Former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik is in continuous possession of tainted property through a firm, owned by his family, a special court held while denying him bail last week in an alleged money laundering case linked to a land deal in which fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides were involved.
Prima facie, there was evidence to indicate that there was a "conspiracy" between Hasina Parkar (Ibrahim's sister), Salim Patel (alleged associate of Ibrahim) and Malik to grab the land owned by Munira Plumber and her mother Mariyum Goawala, said R N Rokade, special judge for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The judge rejected Malik's bail plea on November 30. A detailed order was made available on Tuesday. The Enforcement Directorate arrested Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Malik in February this year.
The court in its order said, “Having regard to the statements recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA pertaining to the conspiracy for ursurpation/acquisition of prime property– Goawala Compound – and the material collected during the investigation, I am inclined to hold that the applicant is in continuous possession of the tainted property through Solidus Investments Private Limited.” Solidus Investments company is owned by the family members of Malik.