ED attaches assets worth Rs 72-cr assets of person whose wife transferred funds to Sanjay Raut’s spouse

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), investigating the multi-crore PMC Bank scam in which Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s wife is embroiled, on Friday attached assets worth Rs 72 crores under the Prevention of money laundering Act.

These properties belong to Pravin Raut, reportedly a close relative of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. It was Raut’s wife who allegedly transferred money to Sanjay Raut’s wife. He has earlier been questioned and arrested by the ED in the same case.

The probe agency claims that Pravin Raut, had “siphoned off” Rs 95 crore worth of funds from the scam-hit PMC bank in the garb of loan, out of which he paid Rs 1.6 crore to his wife, Madhuri Raut, who subsequently transferred Rs 55 lakh in two tranches to Varsha Raut, wife of Sanjay Raut, as an “interest-free loan.”

The ED recently summoned Varsha Raut for questioning with regard to this transaction and a few other deals, triggering political blamegame between Maharashtra govt and Centre.

Varsha Raut skipped the agency”s notice thrice and is now expected to join probe before the ED in Mumbai on January 5.

Sanjay Raut had denied any wrongdoing on part of his wife and said they were in correspondence with the ED.

59-year-old Sanjay Raut is a Rajya Sabha MP and also a spokesperson of the Shiv Sena, which is leading the Maha-Aghadi alliance govt in Maharashtra.