Mumbai: Observing that the prosecution had made out a strong prima facie case to frame charges, a special court on Saturday rejected the discharge pleas of Premier Port Links Pvt Ltd, owned by Salil Deshmukh, and two chartered accountants, allegedly involved in a money laundering case linked to former state home minister Anil Deshmukh. Salil is Anil Deshmukh’s son and also an accused in the case.“…It prima facie appears that the company is one of the entities controlled and managed by the co-accused, the then home minister Anil Deshmukh and his family, and was utilised as a part of the larger corporate structure created for layering and integration of tainted funds,” special judge Mahesh K Jadhav said in the order.The judge said it appeared that the company, in conspiracy with others, had acquired illegal loans of Rs 2.2 crore from Flourish Properties Pvt Ltd, in which Deshmukh’s family had infused funds through share capital. “Fifty percent share of the applicant company was allotted to Salil Deshmukh for a meagre amount of Rs 17.5 lakh when the company is having assets of Rs 5.4 crore.”ED had said during his stint as home minister, Anil Deshmukh received around Rs 4.7 crore, collected from owners and managers of orchestra bar for their smooth functioning during the pandemic. Deshmukh’s chartered accountant, Sudhir Baheti, had told the agency that he had introduced Delhi-based hawala operators to his son, Hrishikesh. Nearly Rs 4.2 crore, in various tranches, was received by the trust from the paper companies of the hawala operators under the garb of donation, ED said.In the first order on Premier Port Links, it was argued that its land transactions and loans were concluded years before the alleged scheduled offence and that the company, not being a legal person, could not possess criminal intent. However, the prosecution said the Deshmukh family exercised substantive control over the entity, using it to layer tainted funds.The judge observed, “The company has, thus, got directly indulged and is actually involved in the concealment, possession, acquisition and use of proceeds of crime.” The judge noted that the company acquired the proceeds of crime across several financial years, concealing them under the guise of loans to acquire land. Addressing the company’s defence regarding the timing of its transactions, the judge clarified the independent nature of the anti-money laundering law. “…money laundering is a continued offence. Therefore, the question about the acquisition of the said property does not come into play and cannot be considered as a ground to discharge the applicant company.” The court noted that the legal framework serves as a “crucial mechanism to ensure that the individuals involved in laundering the proceeds of crime are brought to justice and that economic offence does not go unpunished”.In separate orders, the court also refused to discharge chartered accountants Vinod Hassani and Vishal Khatwani. Both claimed they were merely providing professional services and had no knowledge of the source of funds.Hassani said he had resigned from his firm in 2017, long before the alleged generation of crime proceeds. The judge, however, pointed to statements suggesting he remained associated in an advisory capacity and was found in possession of share certificates in late 2020.The court noted that the accused were “instrumental in managing the financial affairs of a network of companies controlled by the co-accused Anil Deshmukh and his family”. It held that the chartered accountants played an active role that went beyond passive professional work.On the chartered accountants’ involvement with dummy directors and documentation, the judge said they misused their professional expertise and knowingly facilitated money laundering. The judge said they played a “conscious role in creating and maintaining a corporate veil for laundering operations which transcends passive routine professional work”.
