A Special Court in Mumbai on Wednesday rejected the bail petition of senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik in a money laundering case of 1999 linked to the activities of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
Mr. Malik was arrested on February 24 this year after being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for seven hours and has been lodged at Arthur Road Jail since March 7.
His bail petition mentioned that there is no evidence of money laundering allegations against him, while the central agency argued he is not innocent. Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court Judge R.N. Rokade had reserved the order on November 24.
The five-time member MLA is mired in an alleged money laundering case where he is believed to have bought an ancestral property in suburban Mumbai from two sisters through Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar (now dead) for ₹55 lakh whereas it is claimed that the market value of the property was ₹3.3 crore. The offence allegedly committed by Mr. Malik is not giving the owners any consideration for the said property.
It is ED’s case that the prime property of three acres belonging to one Munira Plumber which is currently valued at ₹300 crore was allegedly usurped by Mr. Malik through M/s Solidus Investments Private Limited, a company owned and controlled by former Minority Development Minister’s family members with active connivance of members of the D-Gang through Ms. Parkar.
As per Ms. Plumber’s statement, she had given the power of attorney of the said land to Salim Patel (close associate of Ms. Parker) for removing the encroachments from the said property and not to sell it. She came to know from the media in 2021 that her property was sold to Mr. Malik. She claims that she has never met Mr. Malik or expressed any desire to sell the property to him. She also states that she has not signed the agreement paper to sell the property to a third party nor authorised Mr. Patel to sell the property. Ms. Plumber has also submitted a complaint dated September 12, 1989, before the small causes court of being threatened by Mr Malik for usurping the property.
The ED charged the NCP leader for “active involvement in terror funding.” The ED has contended that Mr. Malik’s dealings in the said case is sensitive involving proceeds of crime from an organised sector that has international ramifications.
