Vasai-Virar: ED uncovers Rs 291 crore racket linked to civic body officials

The Enforcement Directoratersquos ED prosecution complaint PC filed before the Special PMLA Court in connection with the probe into illegal constructions in VasaiVirar has exposed a wellorganised ldquocode word cartelrdquo operating within the VasaiVirar City Municipal Corporation VVCMC where illicit proceeds and assets worth over Rs 291 crore were allegedly generatedED officials stated that WhatsApp chats and Excel sheets seized during raids revealed the intricate code system used to manage payoffs among senior officers According to the complaint a network of civic officers architects liaison agents and developers operated together to approve and protect illegal constructions across VasaiVirar and these codes were allegedly used to collect track and distribute illicit proceeds among the accusedCode wordsThe ED has decoded a unique set of references used to track illicit money ldquoCrdquo stood for former VVCMC Commissioner Anil Kumar Pawar ldquoDrdquo referred to Deputy Director Town Planning YS Reddy ldquoS Nordquo ldquoSnordquo denoted filewise bribes linked to Pawar and ldquoCommercialrdquo indicated payments for highvalue projects awaiting approval ldquoThese code words were not random abbreviations but part of a digital accounting system for corruptionhellip Every construction file carried an internal reference representing the commission to be paidrdquo the complaint stateslsquoRate cardrsquo for approvalsAs per the prosecution complaint builders and developers were allegedly charged fixed commissions to obtain mandatory permissions such as commencement certificates CC occupancy certificates OC and regional development plan approvals According to the ED for urban zone projects Pawar and Reddy were paid Rs 2025 per sq ft and Rs 10 per sq ft respectively while they were paid Rs 625 per sq ft and Rs 10 per sq ft for green zone projectsAn alleged illegal construction in VasaiVirar File PicA junior engineer in the town planning department allegedly maintained an Excel sheet to compute builtup areas and track bribes collected or pending ldquoThe file contained clear entries of amounts collected and directly correlated with project approvalsrdquo the EDrsquos complaint notesStatements recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA revealed that during Pawarrsquos tenure as commissioner between 2022 and July 2025 he and Reddy allegedly issued commencement certificates for 455 crore sq ft of builtup area in urban zones and 6177 lakh sq ft in green zones The bribes according to the agency were delivered to their residences and relatives through middlemenRaids and recoveriesBetween May 14 and July 29 2025 multiple search operations under the PMLA led to massive recoveries mdash Rs 823 crore in cash and jewellery worth Rs 2325 crore from Reddyrsquos residence Rs 133 crore in cash from properties linked to Pawar and Rs 45 lakh in cash from developer Sitaram Guptarsquos properties Bank deposits mutual funds and shares worth Rs 1386 crore were frozen from architects liaison agents and chartered accountants The prosecution complaint attributes the total proceeds of crime and assets as follows Pawar Rs 169 crore Rs 44 crore attached Reddy Rs 51 crore assets under verification Sitaram and Arun Gupta Rs 71 crore Rs 228 crore attachedLavish lifestyleThe complaint alleges that the accused allegedly used illicit funds for luxury purchases and investments Reddy reportedly bought BMW and MercedesBenz cars Rolex and Rado watches and iPhones and spent heavily on hotel stays and foreign trips Pawar allegedly purchased expensive jewellery pearls and sarees in cash and later invested in farmhouses in Trimbak and Alibaug worth R3 crore warehouses in Bhiwandi worth Rs 6 crore and residential projects in Nashik under his familyrsquos namesAlleged protection racketThe complaint also states that both officers played key roles in protecting 41 illegal residential and commercial buildings constructed on government and reserved land Despite being aware of the violations they allegedly ensured no action was taken in exchange for bribes ldquoA fixed commission rate of Rs 150 per sq ft was imposed on these illegal projects out of which Rs 50 per sq ft went directly to Pawarrdquo the prosecution complaint states It adds that Pawar instructed demolition teams to retreat from sites where builders had already paid him Statements from assistant municipal commissioners confirm that Pawar had issued an internal circular mandating his prior approval before any demolition driveArrest declared illegalThe Bombay High Court on Wednesday strongly criticised the ED for arresting the Pawar calling the action arbitrary illegal and unsupported by evidence The bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad said Pawarrsquos arrest was contrary to Section 19 of the PMLA as well as an infringement of his fundamental rights under Articles 14 19 and 21 of the Constitution As of August 13 the day Pawar was arrested the arresting officer did not possess sufficient material to justify forming a ldquoreason to believerdquo that the officer had committed an offence under the PMLA the court said The ED later chose to challenge the high courtrsquos order through a special leave petition in the Supreme CourtLawyer speaksAdvocate Ujjwalkumar Chavan who is representing Pawar alleged that the entire operation was executed with a preset target in mind rather than a genuine investigtion ldquoTo register a case under the PMLA and to establish proceeds of crime four FIRs registered in 2019 2022 and 2023 were used There was no real intention of inquiry into the actual sale of the 41 illegal buildings During Pawarrsquos tenure 246 unauthorised constructions were demolished which were not inquired into It is also claimed that he got Rs 169 crore as proceeds of crime This is completely based on estimates and not on actual transactions The issue of corruption is beyond the ambit of four FIRs therefore ED has no jurisdiction of inquiryrdquo Chavan told midday