ED arrests ex-president of Maharashtra-based educational society in money laundering case

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Mahadev Ramachandra Deshmukh, the former president of Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society (SCSES) in an alleged money laundering case.

Deshmukh has been sent to ED custody till May 18, ED said in a statement on Monday.

ED initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by Vaduj Police Station in Satara against Deshmukh and others alleging, therein, that the management had collected funds in cash from the students for admission in the MBBS course into a college namely Institute of Medical Science and Research, Mayani of Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society whereas, the college was not eligible for the same.

An investigation by ED revealed that the Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society in Kolhapur is a charitable trust which is engaged in educational activities, the statement said.

The trust received permission to run a medical college for the academic year 2012-13 and 2013-14 for 100 seats per annum (85 seat government quota and 15 seats management quota).

However, in 2014, Admission Regulatory Authority rejected the permission for admission in MBBS for the academic year 2014-15. Despite the admission permission being granted only to 200 students, from 2012-13 to 2015-16 Deshmukh fraudulently and illegally collected an amount of Rs 29 Crore approximately from more than 550 students in the guise of admission in MBBS (in cash) as a donation.

However, admission was not granted to about 350 students out of the 550 students, the release said.

The investigation further revealed that various agents were appointed on a commission basis by Deshmukh for luring prospective candidates for admission on payment of donation.

ED produced Deshmukh before the PMLA Court on May 7, 2022, seeking custody of the accused. The PMLA Court was pleased to grant custody of the accused to the Enforcement Directorate till May 18, it added.

Further investigation is going on.

( With inputs from ANI )

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