ED attaches DSK’s properties worth Rs 904 crores

Sumit Singh

Pune – Enforcement Directorate( ED) has attached assets worth approx. Rs 904 crores of DSK Group in the form of Land, Buildings, Flats, LIC policies, Cash deposits in bank A/cs. under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002. More than 35000 investors/depositors got cheated by the group for more than Rs 1129 Cr in the Deposit scheme, hatched by trio of Deepak S Kulkarni, Chairman and MD of DSK Group; Hemanti D Kulkarni w/o Deepak S Kulkarni, group president of DSK Group; Shirish D Kulkarni S/o Deepak S Kulkarni, Executive Director in many DSK group of companies and others.

DSK Group, a business conglomerate, headquartered in Pune, India is primarily engaged in domain including real estate, automobile, sports, information technology, and education through D S Kulkami Developers Limited (DSKDL), a Public Limited Company and more than forty other group companies/entities. Investigation disclosed that the trio and others conspired themselves and formed eight partnership firms viz D S Kulkarni and Company, D S Kulkarni and Associates, D S Kulkarni and Brothers, D S Kulkarni 86 Sons, DSK fis Sons, DSK 8a Asso, DSK Construction, DSK Enterprises under the veil of DSKDL, with the sole motive to collect the funds from gullible public based in Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, and other cities of Maharashtra.

It was projected that all the partnership firms are part and parcel of DSKDL. Although, these eight partnership firms didn’t have any profit generating business nevertheless the trio, between 2006 to 2017, with the connivance of others, dishonestly induced the gullible public and collected funds from them in guise of different deposit schemes through these eight partnership firms. Money trail established that trio with others, systematically step by step, layered and integrated the funds, so collected by these eight partnership firms, through various high value sham transactions under cover of Capital borrowing, advances against property, Director’s loan etc. between more than forty group companies/entities of DSK Group to project it as untainted money and finally laundered the money to DSKDL, DSK Global Education, DSK Southern, DSK Motors, DSK Developer corporation (USA) and other DSK Group of Companies; in the Bank accounts of Deepak S Kulkarni, Hemanti D Kulkarni, Shirish D Kulkarni and close relatives/family members of Deepak D Kulkarni. The laundered money was further utilised to purchase the land in India and abroad (USA); in different construction projects of DSKDL/subsidiary of DSKDL; for operative expenditure of group companies of DSK group; for repayment of Bank Loan; to purchase land in the name of Hemanti D Kulkarni, Shirish D Kulkarni, Aose relatives/family members A Deepak S Kulkarni; for payment of premium of high value Life Insurance policies and for conspicuous consumption.

Money trail also established that proceeds of crime were further siphoned off from DSKDL to Mrs Hemanti D Kulkarni through the close relatives/family members and partnership firm i.e. D S Kulkarni and Company in guise of land development charges and consenting charges.

DSKDL has purchased Fursungi land with the total cost of Rs 332 Cr between 2006 to 2009 for the development of SEZ project, however in the entire land purchase dealing, the agriculturists got only Rs 147.85 Cr. and the remaining funds amounting to Rs 184.46 C.r was siphoned off to Hemanti D Kulkarni.

The ED has been carrying out investigation under the provisions of the prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 for unearthing the properties acquired by the accused in the case out of the funds collected from the investors. Further investigation is in process.