Mumbai : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a supplementary chargesheet against Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) MLA Rohit Pawar and a few others in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam case. The chargesheet, submitted in the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) Court, comes months after the ED attached assets worth over Rs 50 crore belonging to Pawar’s firm, Baramati Agro.
The ED had earlier conducted searches at Rohit Pawar’s premises, including Baramati Agro and other linked locations, in January last year. Following the raids, Pawar, MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed, was summoned and questioned at the ED’s Mumbai office. The agency provisionally attached assets worth Rs 50.20 crore belonging to Baramati Agro, including 161.30 acres of land, a sugar mill, machinery, and buildings located in Kannad, Aurangabad.
The ED claims that the assets belong to Kannad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited (Kannad SSK), which Baramati Agro acquired through an allegedly rigged auction. According to the agency, the acquisition violated the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as the assets are deemed “proceeds of crime”.
The FIR alleged that several cooperative sugar mills (SSKs) were sold fraudulently by MSCB officials and directors to their relatives and private entities at throwaway prices, bypassing standard procedures. The bank conducted an auction based on a questionable valuation, setting a low reserve price.
The ED claims the auction was manipulated – disqualifying the highest bidder on weak grounds and allowing a close associate of Baramati Agro, with no experience or financial strength, to remain in the race.
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