Mumbai: ‘Sameer Wankhede declared Rs 1 lakh expense on 19-day London trip’

Sameer Wankhede at the Bharat Ki Shaan award ceremony, in Bandra, in August 2022. Pic/Satej Shinde

The initial tip-off received by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai did not mention the names of Aryan Khan, the Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, and his friend Arbaaz Merchant, reveals the detailed investigation report submitted before the Delhi High Court. The probe was conducted against NCB's former zonal (Mumbai) director Sameer Wankhede and other officers, who are accused of various misconducts in the ‘drugs-on-cruise' case.

NCB's Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh led the special enquiry team's (SET) investigation into the matter. Below are the findings in the vigilance report and also the details of the expenses that Wankhede has not been able to explain.

Tip-off note tampered with: It appeared that the original information note was modified at the last moment and the names of Aryan, Arbaaz were included, while the names of some suspects were dropped. No documentation of seizure: Neither the panchnama mentioned any phones of the suspects seized nor was there a separate seizure memo. Thus, no formal documents were made for seizure of the phones. In the absence of a seizure memo, the chain of custody of the seized phone - vital evidence - was affected.

Sameer Wankhede outside NCB office in Ballard Estate

Allegation of valuables taken without documentation: Several witnesses examined by the SET stated that their and other suspects' valuables were taken by NCB Mumbai officers without documentation. Allegation of settlement in matter of suspect Saumya Singh: The information note had her name, and despite the recovery of rolling papers from her bag, she was given a clean chit. The witnesses examined by the SET also showed her as a drug addict. She did not appear or assist in the enquiry of the SET.

Also Read: Aryan Khan case: Sameer Wankhede's foreign visits, expensive watches under CBI scanner

CCTV footage: The CCTV equipment of the NCB office was collected by the SET to verify the facts; however, it was found that the same has gone corrupt. The DVR and the hard disk provided by the NCB Mumbai office were different. It appears from the actions of the Zone that the CCTV footage had something important and the same was intentionally not provided to the SET.

Lapses in the custody of Aryan and Arbaaz: The statements of the witnesses established that accused Aryan and Arbaaz were brought to the NCB office in a private vehicle of K P Gosavi instead of an office car. The audio recording of Aryan circulated by Gosavi is again a procedural lapse.

Expenses unexplained

The vigilance report also highlights misconduct and violations of Central Civil Services Rules by Wankhede. According to the report, Wankhede's average annual income as per the ITR was about Rs 15.75 lakh (salary and rent), his wife Kranti's about Rs 7 lakh (business) and father's (pension and rent) about Rs 3.45 lakh. The expenses of the declared private visits have been apparently under-reported by Wankhede.

In a span of about five years, from 2017 to 2021, he and his family made six private foreign visits to countries like UK, Ireland, Portugal, South Africa and the Maldives, spanning over 55 days of foreign stay, with a declared amount of only R8.75 lakh, which can barely cover the cost of air travels, the report noted.

In all the visits, expenditure incurred onwards travelling, lodging, boarding, VISA, miscellaneous expenses declared by him is between R1 lakh and R2.5 lakh, which is clearly incorrect declaration/under-reporting. Dubious transactions of Wankhede came to light with respect to his Maldives trip in July 2021.

The report states that various details, like the mode of travel, hotel booking, payment, etc., are unclear for his last trip to the Maldives. The question that arises from the lack of information is whether hospitality was accepted from any foreign source. If so, had Wankhede obtained necessary permission under the provisions of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act/Rules from the Union home ministry, the report added.

The vigilance report also states that the payment of Rs 9,03,055 in cash by Wankhede's friend Viral Jamaluddin to JD's Partner for hotel booking raises doubt about unaccounted money laundering. The 19-day long visit to London for tourism cannot be justified with a declared expense of Rs 1 lakh, it added.

Wankhede purchased a Rolex Gold watch worth Rs 22,05,000 for Rs 17,40,000 on credit from Viral. There are multiple invoices/quotes of Rolex watches. The report further mentioned a "dubious transaction" of Rs 7,40,000 through cheque for four watches that were sold by Wankhede to Viral. The cheque was issued in the name of Kranti Redkar. It is also pertinent to raise the doubt that as to how Wankhede got the payment immediately for the sold watches (unknown buyers) and how he gets the facility of credit for the purchase of a new watch worth R22 lakh, the report stated.

Disproportionate assets
In respect to disproportionate asset enquiry against Wankhede, the SET found that Wankhede owns four flats in Mumbai and 4,16,88-acre land in Washim. He claimed to have spent Rs 82,87,399 on a fifth flat in Goregaon valued at Rs 2,45,49,918. Wankhede has said that his wife Kranti had invested Rs 1.25 crore in their flat before their wedding on February 8, 2017. But the SET could not verify it, as they have not furnished the ITR of financial year 2016-17.

Wankhede moves HC
Meanwhile, Wankhede has moved an application before the Delhi High Court, seeking relief, stating that he has answered every question with facts. He has sought to register a cross FIR against his senior officer Gyaneshwar Singh, claiming he has been framed.

Wankhede has also submitted along with his petition copies of his WhatsApp chats with senior officers wherein he informed them of every move during the raid on the Cordelia ship and the subsequent arrest of Aryan. "We were not aware of what he and some members of his team were doing behind the curtain. The facts were revealed during the vigilance enquiry and action was initiated against him," a senior NCB officer told mid-day.

Six
No. of foreign trips he, his family made in 5 years

Rs 17 lakh
Cost of the Rolex watch he purchased on credit