Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police has found that deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Rashmi Karandikar had not disclosed that she had received ₹2.64 crore from her estranged husband Purshottam Chavan while declaring her assets.
The agency, which is investigating two alleged cases of fraud involving Chavan, had earlier written to the DGP’s office, seeking details about the alleged transfer of funds from Chavan to Karandikar, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer in 2017-18.
Karandikar has already filed for divorce on grounds of mental cruelty, financial harassment, incompatibility, Chavan’s bipolar disorder, and his concealment of financial dealings.
“We may write to the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for further inquiry as she is a public servant,” an EOW official told Hindustan Times.
The EOW had, in May, arrested Chavan for allegedly defrauding 19 people of ₹24.78 crore by promising them homes at discounted rates under various government schemes. It had taken Chavan’s custody from the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier arrested him in connection with an alleged ₹263.95-crore income tax fraud.
In June, the EOW arrested Chavan in another ₹7.42-crore cheating case, wherein he allegedly duped people by promising them land owned by the government and the Bombay Port Trust (BPT) at discounted rates.
During investigation, the agency learnt that ₹ 2.64 crore was transferred from Chavan’s to Karandikar’s bank account in 2017-2018. Karandikar did not reverse the transaction and invested the money instead in intraday trading, losing the entire amount, EOW officers told HT.
“We subsequently wrote to the DGP’s office as the amount was very large and we wanted to check if Karandikar had declared the same in her assets disclosure,” the officer stated. “Then, we analysed the documents she had submitted while declaring her assets and found that she had not disclosed the receipt of funds from her husband.”
Karandikar, who was questioned by the EOW, told the agency that her bank and trading accounts, though in her name, were managed by her husband, the officer said.