A special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on July 6 sent two aides of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to judicial custody till July 20.
Private secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde were arrested on June 26 by Enforcement Directorate (ED) under Sections 3 (offence of money laundering) and 19 (power to arrest) of the PMLA.
As per an ED probe, 11 companies were directly controlled by family members of Mr. Deshmukh and 13 more companies came to light, in the names of close associates of the former Minister’s family.
An analysis of bank account statements revealed that money was transferred between companies directly and indirectly controlled by family members of Mr. Deshmukh.
Subsequently, search and seizures were conducted at residences and offices.
Statements of bar owners and managers were recorded, which revealed that dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze, currently lodged at Taloja Central Jail, collected money…