Dapoli resort case: Anil Parab delayed land transfer, forged owner’s signatures, says ED | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
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Dapoli resort case: Anil Parab delayed land transfer, forged owner’s signatures, says ED

By, Mumbai
May 10, 2023 12:58 AM IST

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab and his business partner Sadanand Kadam deliberately delayed transfer of the Dapoli land for more than two years and meanwhile forged the original owner’s signature to obtain permission to convert it to non-agricultural purpose and later started building Sai Resort NX on the plot, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has said in its chargesheet

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab and his business partner Sadanand Kadam deliberately delayed transfer of the Dapoli land for more than two years and meanwhile forged the original owner’s signature to obtain permission to convert it to non-agricultural purpose and later started building Sai Resort NX on the plot, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has said in its chargesheet.

Mumbai, India - March 02, 2023: MLC Anil Parab arrives on the fourth day of Maharashtra Budget Session, at Vidhan Bhavan, Nariman Point, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, March 02, 2023. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)
Mumbai, India - March 02, 2023: MLC Anil Parab arrives on the fourth day of Maharashtra Budget Session, at Vidhan Bhavan, Nariman Point, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, March 02, 2023. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

It was purposefully done so that if the illegalities involved in construction within the coastal regulation zone-I, a no-development area, came to light, liability could be fixed on the original landowner, the agency has claimed.

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The ED that is probing a money-laundering case involving the resort at Murud in Dapoli tehsil of Ratnagiri district filed the chargesheet or prosecution complaint in the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court on Saturday.

Apart from Kadam, Jayram Vinayak Deshpande, then sub-divisional officer, Dapoli, Sudhir Pardule, then circle officer, Vinod Depolkar, an estate agent, Anant Koli, gram sevak of Murud village, and Suresh Tupe, village sarpanch, have been named as accused. The agency has, however, not named Parab, former transport minister, as an accused and stated that the investigation against some other persons and entities is pending.

“Parab and Kadam were aware that construction on the said land is prohibited as it is within CRZ-I and they would require permission from authorities concerned. Therefore, the sale deed was deliberately delayed, and permission was sought from the revenue department in the name of Vibhas Sathe (from whom Parab had purchased the land) by way of making an application under forged signature of Sathe so that if any violation was discovered the onus could be shifted to Sathe,” the chargesheet said.

“This is evident from the fact that payment of 1 crore was made (to the landowner) on May 2, 2017, but the sale deed was executed on June 19, 2019, after the construction of the resort was completed,” it added.

The agency claimed that Kadam had on July 21, 2017, applied in Sathe’s name for permission to convert the land use from agricultural to non-agricultural purpose by forging the landowner’s signature on the application. Subsequently, the agency said, when plans for twin bungalows proposed to be constructed were prepared by the architect, Sathe’s name was mentioned as the owner and his signatures were again forged, the chargesheet further claimed.

Parab has, however, denied any wrongdoings. In his statement to the ED, the former minister claimed that in May 2017, he had purchased the plot measuring 42.14 gunthas from Sathe for 1 crore, as he wanted to construct a bungalow for his personal use.

Parab further said that after the purchase, he had asked Kadam to obtain the necessary permissions for converting the land use. Besides, on May 12, 2017, he had signed an MOU with Kadam, whereby he agreed to sell the said land to the former for 1.10 crore and the sale deed was executed in December 2020. Kadam built the resort at a cost of approximately 6 crore, the Sena (UBT) leader added.

The ED refuted Parab’s claims. “The MoU brought on record by Parab and Kadam is clearly an afterthought as there is no justification from Kadam as to why he was unable to purchase the land in 2017 even though he clearly had surplus funds and was also sanctioned a loan of 5 crore by Saraswat Bark on the personal guarantee of Parab. Thus, the property was meant for Parab from the start and expenses were made in cash by only Parab,” the agency said.

ED has also said that it was only after the issue of illegal construction in CRZ-I, and the irregularities involved in building Sai Resort NX came out, Kadam lent his name and became the owner of the said property to cover up the criminalities and shift the onus as well as consequences from Parab to himself.

The construction was deliberately not included in the sale deed as Parab had complete knowledge that Sai Resort NX was illegal and if construction was mentioned in the sale deed that would directly implicate him, as owner of the illegal resort, the agency added.

Resort attached by I-T dept

The income tax department has provisionally attached the resort by an order dated November 23, 2022, claiming that Parab was the beneficial owner of the property and Kadam was the benamidaar, as contemplated under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988. The I-T department is also probing the purported link between Kadam and Parab.

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