The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday secured the custody of Ashok Kharat, a Nashik-based astrologer, who is accused of running a money laundering operation by exploiting the spiritual faith of his victims. The ED submitted before a special court that Kharat extorted over Rs 5.6 crore from a businessman through repeated meetings and rituals presented as religious guidance and business support. This amount includes travel expenses, foreign trips costing about Rs 1 crore, a luxury vehicle worth Rs 95 lakh, medical treatment in the US costing Rs 30 lakh, and farmhouse-related expenses of about Rs 3.4 crore.
ED's special public prosecutor Arvind Aghav submitted that investigations revealed Kharat systematically generated proceeds of crime through religious manipulation, coercion, and extortion. He then laundered these proceeds through a web of benami bank accounts, cooperative credit societies (Patpedhis), property acquisitions, and third-party financial instruments. Aghav argued that Kharat is the mastermind and primary beneficiary of the money laundering scheme under investigation.
The special PMLA court granted the ED custody till Tuesday. Special judge Chakor S Baviskar noted, Considering the magnitude of the investigation and wide network behind the offences, custodial interrogation of the accused is absolutely necessary. However, the judge turned down the ED's request for 10 days, stating that at the first stroke, it would not be proper to grant the same for that entire period.
Kharat's lawyer Niranjan Mundargi, along with advocate Keral Mehta, argued against the necessity of a 10-day custodial interrogation. They contended that the investigating agency already possessed all relevant documents and was turning the investigation into a phishing exercise. The defense challenged the legal basis of the probe, pointing out that allegations regarding the creation of 60 unauthorised accounts in 2021 were not part of the current scheduled offence and lacked the required linking predicate offence.
During the proceedings, when the judge asked Kharat if he understood the charges, he replied that the chairman and manager of the bank convinced him to keep the amount in their banks as the interest rate was better at 9% because it was a sarkari (government) bank, not a private one. A key allegation is that Kharat, along with his associate Arvind Bawake, operated 60 unauthorised bank accounts and 48 linked Special Savings Accounts at the Rahata Branch of Samata Nagari Cooperative Credit Society by using identities of various individuals without their consent.
To maintain full control over the fraudulent network, Kharat linked his personal mobile number and designated himself as the nominee across all accounts. Using pre-signed withdrawal slips obtained from the account holders, the duo executed transactions totaling over Rs 47.74 crore, including Rs 21.26 crore in cash deposits and Rs 23.87 crore in cash withdrawals. They intentionally kept every transaction under Rs 2 lakh to circumvent KYC compliance thresholds. Statements from several individuals confirmed they never opened accounts with Samata Pat Sanstha, revealing that Kharat allegedly opened them without their knowledge for his personal benefit.
In another instance, the ED submitted that Kharat allegedly extorted Rs 3.8 crore from another man through threats and religious manipulation. He used these illicit funds to finance a fraudulent real estate transaction to layer the money. Specifically, Kharat forced the man to execute a sale deed for land in Ahilyanagar district against an agreed loan of Rs 3 crore. However, despite an understanding that a Reconveyance Deed and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be executed simultaneously, Kharat intentionally left the MoU unregistered, stripping the man of his legal protections and effectively misappropriating the land.
In a statement recorded by the businessman who was allegedly extorted out of Rs 5.6 crore, he clarified that he never voluntarily donated money or covered expenses for Kharat. Instead, he alleged Kharat used religious manipulation and threats to extort funds from him, falsely promising that his business would flourish through an Avatar Pooja while warning that failure to comply would ruin his business. The prosecution submitted that investigation has further revealed that Kharat utilised the proceeds of crime to acquire various immovable properties in his own name as well as in the names of his family members and associates, including through cash payments, thereby integrating the laundered funds into legitimate-appearing assets.
