In accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) filed a prosecution complaint against Sanjay Vijay Shinde, his wife Smt Aparna Shinde, and M/s Venus Bay Offshore Ltd. before the Hon’ble Special PMLA Court in Bhopal on October 18, 2023. On October 20, 2023, the Honorable Court granted the Complaint recognition.
The Income Tax Department’s complaint, which was filed under section 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 against Sanjay Vijay Shinde and others, served as the basis for the ED’s probe.
According to an ED investigation, Sanjay Vijay Shinde founded M/s Venus Bay Offshore Ltd. as an offshore business in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands (BVI). He had gotten a sizable payment totalling Rs. 21.87 crore in the company’s UBS-AG Bank account in Singapore. The accused was the only shareholder, director, and beneficial owner of the aforementioned business.
The accused was the subject of proceedings under the Black Money Act, 2015, and the Income Tax Department filed a prosecution complaint under sections 50 and 51 of the Act because he failed to disclose his interest in the foreign company and the assets he received in the form of money in a foreign bank account on his income tax return.
According to the ED’s investigation, the accused invested the money into an FCNR-FD account after bringing it to India via NRE/NRO accounts from a BVI company. The money received from the aforementioned FD liquidations was put toward a variety of real estate, both mobile and stationary. With the money they made from their crimes, the accused bought houses in Mumbai, Goa, Vadodara, and Bhopal.
Additionally, the earnings of crime were used to finance capital investments in firms as well as mutual funds, shares, FDs, and LIC insurance. The accused’s total PoC was determined to be Rs 34.22 Crore after it was discovered throughout the inquiry that he had profited from the usage of criminal proceeds of Rs 12.40 Crore.
Prior to this, Sanjay Vijay Shinde’s several locations were searched, and cash totalling Rs 88.30 lakh as well as a number of papers that may be used as evidence were taken. 18 immovable properties in Bhopal, Goa, Vadodra, and Mumbai, as well as movable properties in the shape of investments in mutual funds, stocks, FDs, LIC, and automobiles totalling Rs 29.59 crore, have been provisionally attached by the ED. Further research is now being conducted.
