The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at a premise located in Maharashtra’s Nashik district as part of a money laundering probe against self-styled “godman” Ashok Kharat and entities linked to him, officials said.
Kharat was arrested by the Nashik police last month over allegations of sexually assaulting several women and duping businessmen and farmers.
The agency is looking to gather documents and records, including of properties, suggesting how he has utilised the proceeds of the crime. The office premises earlier lay sealed by the Nashik police as part of their probe and were unsealed by them subsequently to facilitate ED’s search operation today, officials aware of the developments said.
The ED had earlier on Monday conducted searches at 11 locations across three cities in Maharashtra as part of its probe and included 11 locations, barring Kharat’s office premises, in Nashik, Pune and Shirdi.
The 11 locations searched had included other premises of Kharat, of some of his relatives and his associates. The operation also covered the premises of his chartered accountant (CA), according to ED officials.
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The ED’s case, registered over a week ago, is based on a first information report (FIR) registered by the Nashik police regarding Kharat allegedly extorting ₹4-5 crore from a businessman on multiple pretexts in 2018-19. The businessman, who works in the real estate and construction sector, alleged that the self-styled godman had also coerced him to transfer the ownership of his luxury car worth ₹90 lakh to him in 2018.
The ED’s money-trail probe, which is at a preliminary stage, indicates that Kharat allegedly controlled several accounts at two co-operative credit societies headquartered in Nashik. Though the accounts were held in others’ names, the accused godman stood as nominee in all cases and attached his own mobile number to the accounts, allowing him to exercise control over their operations, investigators said. The agency is currently scrutinising transaction details of such accounts.
The ED has also found that Kharat allegedly sold common objects to his followers at heightened rates, claiming they were blessed items and possessed divine healing powers. The funds thus collected, as well as through extortion operations, were used to purchase multiple plots through his CA and his sons, investigators said.
The predicate FIR, based on which the ED registered its money-laundering case on April 6, covered offences related to alleged religious manipulation and drug-facilitated assaults on innocent victims including women. The predicate FIR was registered by Nashik’s Sarkarwada police station on March 25.
Thirteen cases have so far been registered against the self-styled godman, including four cases of cheating based on complaints from three businessmen based in Mumbai, Pune and Ahilyanagar and a Shirdi-based farmer.