IPS Officer’s Husband Engaged in Money Laundering in India and Abroad, Investigation Agency Reveals

Purushottam Chavan was arrested in May and is currently in judicial custody. According to the federal anti-money laundering agency, former Income Tax officer and prime accused, Tanaji Adhikari, lived lavishly and acquired assets at various places in India using the proceeds of crime (POC). The case pertains to the alleged fraudulent generation and issuance of TDS (tax deducted at source) refunds from the Income-tax department to the tune of Rs 263.95 crore.

Other arrested accused in the case are former Income Tax Officer Tanaji Mandal Adhikari, Bhushan Patil, Rajesh Shetty, and Rajesh Batreja. The Enforcement Directorate recently filed the supplementary charge sheet against six people, including the IPS officer’s husband, in the PMLA court in Mumbai. Special judge for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, A C Daga, on Monday took cognisance of the charge sheet, stating prima facie all accused “appear to be involved in the process of money laundering”.

On careful perusal of the allegations made in the complaint (charge sheet) and roles attributed to the accused, the court noted that all of them “are either part of the generation of the proceeds of crime by the criminal activities related to the predicate offence”. The ED probe suggested Chavan colluding with Rajesh Batreja and other co-accused in dealing with and diverting proceeds of crime in India and abroad, the agency stated. From August 2023 to November 2023, Batreja and Chavan dealt with POC of around Rs 11 crore, according to ED.

Batreja brought back the tainted money from Dubai through the Hawala channel, while Chavan used international SIM cards from the UK and UAE and frequently visited various countries during the commission of the offence and thereafter, the ED stated highlighting the roles of the accused. Adhikari, from November 2019 to March 2021, used POC for a lavish lifestyle and acquired assets at various places in India with the help of other accused, the probe agency said. One of the crime strategies adopted by the accused involved converting the proceeds of crime into cash so that it cannot be traced easily and subsequently siphoning off the cash to Dubai through the Hawala channel, it said.