Dapoli resort case: ED submits chargesheet against ex-minister Anil Parab's aide

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The Enforcement Directorate on Monday submitted its chargesheet before a special court here against an aide of former Maharashtra minister Anil Parab in an alleged money laundering case connected to the construction of a resort at Dapoli in Ratnagiri district.

The chargesheet has been filed against Parab's aide Sadanand Kadam and Jairam Deshpande, a former sub-divisional officer.

The probe agency had also questioned Parab in the case.

Parab had in March this year moved the Bombay High Court seeking to quash the case, and had also sought an interim relief that no coercive action be taken against him pending hearing of his plea.

The high court had granted him interim protection from arrest and posted the matter for hearing in June.

The money laundering case stems from a complaint filed by the Union Environment and Forest Ministry against Parab, Sai Resort, Sea Conch Resort and others for alleged violation of the Environment (Protection) Act.

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In January this year, the ED had attached Sai Resort at Dapoli in coastal Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, worth more than Rs 10 crore, as part of a money laundering probe against Parab and others.

The ED had alleged that Parab "in connivance" with Kadam got "illegal permission" from the local sub-divisional office to convert agriculture-only land into one for non-agricultural use, and constructed a resort in violation of CRZ (coastal regulation zone) norms.

The former minister had obtained "illegal" permission from the state revenue department for the construction of a twin bungalow over land falling under CRZ-III, that is a no development zone, and illegally constructed 'Sai Resort NX', the agency claimed.

Kadam in connivance with Parab caused "great detrimental damage" to the environment and ecology of the seashore by acquiring illegal permission from the revenue department, it alleged.

For getting permission to change the land's use from agricultural to non-agricultural, Kadam forged the signature of its erstwhile owner, the ED alleged.

The total proceeds of crime, as defined under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), were Rs 10.2 crore, it said.

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