Mumbai: Seeking custody of Ashok Kharat, a Nashik-based astrologer accused of running a money laundering operation by exploiting spiritual faith, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday submitted how through repeated meetings and rituals presented as “religious guidance and business support,” he extorted over Rs 5.6 crore from a businessman. This amount includes travel, including foreign trips costing about Rs 1 crore, a luxury vehicle costing Rs 95 lakh, medical treatment in the US costing Rs 30 lakh, and farmhouse-related expenses of about Rs 3.4 crore.Citing this and several other instances, ED’s special public prosecutor Arvind Aghav submitted that investigations revealed Kharat systematically generated proceeds of crime through religious manipulation, coercion, and extortion, and thereafter laundered the proceeds through a web of benami bank accounts, cooperative credit societies (Patpedhis), property acquisitions, and third-party financial instruments. He also submitted that Kharat is the “mastermind and primary beneficiary of the money laundering scheme under investigation”.Consequently, the special PMLA court granted the ED custody till Tuesday. “Considering the magnitude of the investigation and wide network behind the offences, in my opinion custodial interrogation of the accused is absolutely necessary. For that, his presence with the investigating agency is necessary,” special judge Chakor S Baviskar said.“Striking out balance” the judge turned down the ED’s requested 10 days. “Though the ED custody of 10 days is prayed for, at the first stroke, it would not be proper to grant the same for that entire period,” the judge noted.Kharat’s lawyer Niranjan Mundargi, who appeared along with advocate Keral Mehta, argued against the necessity of a 10-day custodial interrogation, contending that the investigating agency already possessed all relevant documents and was turning the investigation into a “phishing exercise”.Challenging the legal basis of the probe, the defense pointed out that the allegations regarding the creation of 60 unauthorised accounts in 2021 were not part of the current scheduled offence and lack the required linking predicate offence.During the proceedings when the judge enquired with Kharat if he understood the proceedings against him, he replied, “…the chairman and manager of the bank convinced me to keep the amount in their banks as the interest rate was better at 9% as it was a “sarkari” and not a private bank… only because the interest rate was better…”A key allegation was that Kharat, along with his associate Arvind Bawake, operated 60 unauthorised bank accounts and 48 linked Special Savings Accounts at the Rahata Branch of Samata Nagari Cooperative Credit Society by using the identities of various individuals without their consent.It was alleged that to maintain full control over the fraudulent network, Kharat linked his personal mobile number and designated himself as the nominee across all accounts. The ED further alleged that using pre-signed withdrawal slips obtained from the account holders, the duo executed transactions totaling over Rs 47.74 crore, including Rs 21.26 crore in cash deposits and Rs 23.87 crores in cash withdrawals, intentionally keeping every transaction under Rs 2 lakh to circumvent KYC compliance thresholds. The ED submitted that statements from several individuals confirmed they never opened accounts with Samata Pat Sanstha, revealing that Kharat allegedly opened them without their knowledge for his personal benefit.Citing another instance, the ED submitted that Kharat had allegedly extorted Rs 3.8 crore from another man through threats and religious manipulation, subsequently using these illicit funds to finance a fraudulent real estate transaction to layer the money. Specifically, Kharat forced the man to execute a sale deed for land in Ahilyanagar district against an agreed loan of Rs 3 crore. However, despite an understanding that a Reconveyance Deed and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be executed simultaneously, Kharat intentionally left the MoU unregistered, stripping the man of his “legal protections and effectively misappropriating the land”, the ED alleged.In a statement recorded by the businessman who was allegedly extorted out of Rs 5.6 crore, on May 6 he clarified that he never voluntarily donated money or covered expenses for Kharat. Instead, he alleged Kharat used religious manipulation and threats to extort funds from him, falsely promising that his business would flourish through an “Avatar Pooja” while warning that failure to comply would ruin his business. “Investigation has further revealed that…Kharat utilised the proceeds of crime to acquire various immovable properties in his own name as well as in the names of his family members and associates, including through cash payments, thereby integrating the laundered funds into legitimate-appearing assets,” the prosecution submitted.
