Team Herald
PANJIM: Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Tuesday filed an indictment in the Special Court against former panch of Colva panchayat Calvert Gonsalves, in a disproportionate assets case. Gonsalves has been charged under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
ACB had booked Gonsalves in 2014 for possessing assets 250 percent over his actual income. A case was initially investigated by Police Inspector Nolasco Raposo and later probed by Rahul Parab.
The indictment mentions that Gonsalves’ actual income during that period was Rs 97,000 which he was getting as honorarium.
During the course of investigation, ACB found that Gonsalves had purchased a BMW car which was registered in the name of a friend and it was also found that he had made a couple of foreign trips.
ACB has established that though the car was registered in the name of a friend, the payment was made by Gonsalves. ACB has recorded the statement of the person in whose name the car was registered, and the statement of the BMW management in Goa, that all the payment were made by Gonsalves.
Gonsalves’ bail cancellation was also pending since July 2016 before the High Court of Bombay at Goa following a complaint by prime witness Saturnino Rodrigues that he was threatened and abused by Gonsalves after coming out on bail.
Advocate Galileo Teles representing Rodrigues in HC has withdrawn the application seeking cancellation of bail since the indictment has been submitted in the court.
