Court grants bail to Sachin Joshi in money laundering case on personal bond of Rs 30 lakh; actor barred from leaving the country – Times of India


A special PMLA court in Mumbai granted bail to actor-producer Sachin Joshi in a money laundering case linked to city-based firm Omkar Realtors and Developers, but imposed a set of conditions on him.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Sachin Joshi, who has acted in “Jackpot” and a few other films, on February 14 last year. The 37-year-old actor-producer, who is also a businessman, is currently out on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court on medical grounds.

His plea for regular bail was allowed by special judge MG Deshpande on a personal bond of Rs 30 lakh and two sureties of like amount. Among other bail conditions, the court asked him not to leave India till further orders and submit his passport with the ED. The court directed Sachin Joshi not to commit any acts that cause prejudice to the case’s proceedings and not involve in any activity relating to “proceeds of crime”.

After the bail order was passed, the ED, through special public prosecutor Kavita Patil, filed a plea seeking three weeks time to challenge the ruling and a stay on implementation of the bail order. However, the court rejected the central probe agency’s plea. In the bail application, filed through senior counsel Abad Ponda and advocate Subash Jadhav, Sachin Joshi had sought relief on the ground that the probe agency had failed to establish “proceeds of crime” linked to him.

“In spite of all the vague assertions, without any basis, much less evidence, the complaint does not disclose anywhere as to how any alleged “proceeds of crime” came in the hands of the present applicant (Joshi),” the bail plea said.

In fact, it has been admitted by the complainant (ED) that they possess no evidence of the fact that any such alleged “proceeds of crime” ever found their way into the hands of the applicant herein, it said. Sachin is the son of JMJ group promoter and businessman J M Joshi, who is into gutkha and pan masala manufacturing and also into the hospitality business. He has produced some movies too.

The ED has claimed that its probe found that “loan amount Rs 410 crore was fraudulently acquired by Surana Developers Wadala, LLP, a sister concern of Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt Ltd (ORDPL), through falsely increased slum dwellers numbers and FSI (floor space index). FSI is the ratio that defines how much can be built on a plot.

“Out of Rs 410 crore, an amount of Rs 330 crore was laundered into the sale building of Omkar Group and an amount of Rs 80 crore (approx) was laundered through Sachin Joshi and his Viiking Group of companies under the guise of services and investment,” the agency has alleged.

Besides Sachin Joshi, the chairman of Omkar Realtors and Developers, Kamal Kishore Gupta (62) and its managing director Babulal Varma (51), were also arrested in the case. The duo is currently in jail under judicial custody. The central agency’s case is based on a 2020 FIR of the Aurangabad Police against Gupta and Varma on charges of cheating and diversion of loan funds of Rs 410 crore taken from Yes Bank for re-development of the Anand Nagar SRA Cooperative Housing Society in Mumbai’s Wadala area.

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