Overview
- Ashok Kharat was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on May 19 and produced before a special PMLA court, which remanded him to ED custody until May 26 for custodial interrogation.
- The ED says it has linked Kharat to an alleged ₹70-crore extortion and money‑laundering network that grew out of multiple FIRs alleging rape, cheating and sexual exploitation registered by Nashik police.
- Searches and seizures in April–May recovered large sums of cash (reported Rs 13.92 crore), foreign currency, jewellery, frozen bank balances of about Rs 2.25 crore and a Mercedes, and investigators say documents and digital records were also recovered.
- Investigators allege proceeds were routed through dozens of proxy and benami accounts, cooperative credit society fixed deposits and structured cash transactions kept below ₹2 lakh to avoid KYC checks, with transactions of roughly Rs 47.74 crore cited through specific accounts.
- The special PMLA court limited ED custody after noting much evidence is documentary and accessible to investigators, so the probe will focus next on forensic accounting, tracing final beneficiaries and confronting witnesses to establish how funds were moved and used.