The investigation into Chandrakant Kavlekar’s assets has pointed to an additional Rs 5.50 crore which the Leader of the Opposition claimed was obtained as loan from Mumbai-based companies for the purchase of properties.
However, ACB SP Bosco George said the explanation was not satisfactory and Kavlekar would be given another opportunity to explain the source of this income.
“He was given fair opportunity to explain the source of this income
(Rs 5.50 cr) to which he claimed it was an unsecured loan from companies in Mumbai. We still accepted but it was unsatisfactory… Since it is a loan, he has to prove it is his own money but there are no details provided to ACB,” he said, quoting Kavlekar’s reply to questioning during the inquiry stage in the past.
The MLA has been unable to give details of whether he received the ‘loan amount’ in cash, cheque or demand draft, if he will repay the loan, who has been dealing with it, etc. Despite failing to provide the details, ACB decided to keep aside the question of ‘unsecured loan’ from the present FIR pending a further explanation.
“We believe these are shell companies (referring to the Mumbai firms) to cover up assets he has acquired,” he added. The loans were received by companies owned by the Kavlekar couple – Akshit Export (Rs 1.70 crore), Vibha Star (Rs 3 crore) and Prime Star (Rs 80 lakh).
“If he is unable to explain and give us the required details, we have kept options open to arrest him. However, at this stage we do not feel the need,” the SP stated.
The addition of this amount to the current disproportionate assets will see a jump of over 200 per cent, spelling further trouble for the Congress leader.
