PMLA Court Rejects Bail Plea Of IRS Officer Sachin Sawant

A special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court on Saturday rejected the bail plea of former Joint Commissioner of Customs, Indian Revenue Service officer Sachin Sawant, accused of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. 

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that Sawant generated around ₹4.11 crore from illegal sources of income and amassed assets worth ₹2.45 crore that are disproportionate to his legal income.In its chargesheet filed against Sawant, ED had also named his father Balasaheb, brother Sandeep and two firms, Seven Hills Constrowell Pvt Ltd and Three G ID Technology Pvt Ltd, as accused. The chargesheet said that most of the funds were allegedly deposited in cash in the bank accounts of his father, his mother, his brother and other family members.

A part of this amount was utilised in repaying the loan taken by them while another part was used in purchasing movable/immovable properties in the name of his family members and other related entities/individuals. 

It was also alleged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that most of the amount arranged for the purchase of Sanpada flat in the name of a firm, Seven Hills Constrowell (India) Pvt Ltd, in which Balasaheb was a director, were routed through different loan, personal and current accounts of his parents and his brother. Though the flat was purchased in the name of the firm, the applicant and his wife occupied the flat as real owners, the agency added.The probe found that about ₹1.02 crore of the ₹1.30 crore - the cost of the flat -- was allegedly arranged in cash. Sawant, through advocate Aabad Ponda and advocate Vikram Sutaria, applied for bail stating that grounds of arrest were not communicated to him and that till date no final report was not filed in the predicate offence. The advocates criticised the remand reports of the ED for copy pasting CBI chargesheet without even verification of the facts alleged in the FIR.