The Maharashtra Police has arrested the former chairman of the state cooperative bank and five of his family members on the complaint of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED had alleged that its operation of raids was hindered and evidence was destroyed. Officials gave this information on Sunday. The case pertains to money laundering involving alleged irregularities of about Rs 494 crore against former office bearers of Pune-based Seva Vikas Sahakari Bank, including former chairman Amar Moolchandani, which is being probed by the ED.
ED opened the lock
Official sources in the agency said that the ED had conducted raids at Moolchandani’s premises in Pimpri Chinchwad (near Pune) on the morning of January 27, but they could not enter the house as no one opened the door. He said that after this the ED called the locksmith and got the lock opened and then the officials found that at least five people were present inside the house.
Official sources said people present in the house informed the ED team that Moolchandani was not present there and his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). After about six hours of searching, the ED officials found that the domestic help’s room was locked and when the keys were asked, the people present there expressed their inability to do so.
According to sources, after this the keyman was once again called and the lock was broken, Mulchandani was ‘hidden’ inside the room. He said that the ED then lodged a complaint with the police against all the six people, including two women, for non-cooperation during the search and concealment/destruction of evidence, after which the local police arrested them.
The ED suspects that the former chairman of the cooperative bank has ‘deleted’ the chat and cloud data of two mobile phones allegedly recovered from him. Sources said that jewellery-diamonds worth Rs 2.73 crore and cash worth Rs 40 lakh were recovered from Moolchandani’s premises. The Reserve Bank of India canceled the license of the cooperative bank in October 2022.
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