No money-laundering case made out against actor-producer Sachin Joshi, says PMLA court

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A special court has observed that actor-producer Sachin Joshi was not "directly or indirectly" involved in the money-laundering case linked to city-based firm Omkar Realtors and Developers.

Special PMLA judge M G Deshpande had on Monday granted bail to Joshi, who had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on February 14 last year in the case.

The 37-year-old actor-producer is currently out on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court on medical grounds. The detailed order was made available on Tuesday.

The court, in its order, stated that it appears that no money laundering case is made out against the accused.

The ED has claimed that a loan of Rs 410 crore was fraudulently acquired by Surana Developers Wadala, LLP, a sister concern of Omkar Realtors and Developers Private Limited (ORDPL), by falsely increasing the number of slum dwellers and FSI (floor space index) for a redevelopment project.

"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 had alleged.

However, the court after perusal of documents placed on record and arguments put forth by Joshi's lawyer Abad Ponda said that prima-facie, it appears that the applicant was not ¿directly or indirectly¿ involved in dealing with proceeds of the crime as defined under the relevant provisions of the PMLA.

"Therefore, as argued by Counsel Ponda, prima-facie it appears that there are certain business transactions between the applicant, his group companies with ORDPL and their group companies. These transactions have absolutely no nexus with Rs 410 crore," the court said.

The bank entries relate to such other transactions having no nexus with proceeds of the crime. Hence, no prima-facie case of money laundering is made out against applicant Joshi, the judge said.

The court notes that there were absolutely no satisfactory bank statements or any other document to show that a single rupee Joshi had received from ORDPL account with YES Bank.

Joshi is the son of JMJ group promoter and businessman J M Joshi, who is into gutka and pan masala manufacturing and hospitality business. Joshi has acted in "Jackpot" and a few other films and produced some films as well.

Apart from Joshi, the chairman of Omkar Relators and Developers, Kamal Kishore Gupta (62), its managing director Babulal Varma (51) have also been arrested in the case. The duo are currently in judicial custody.

The central agency's case is based on a 2020 FIR of the Aurangabad police against Gupta and Varma on the charges of cheating and diversion of loan funds of Rs 410 crore taken from Yes Bank for the re-development of Anand Nagar Slum Rehabilitation Authority.

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