Maha: ED Withdraws Nod Given To Waze To Turn Approver In PMLA Case Involving Anil Deshmukh

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday withdrew its consent given to dismissed policeman Sachin Waze to turn approver in a money laundering case against him and others, including former Maharashtra home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh.
     
The ED informed Special Judge R N Rokade, who is presiding over the case, about its decision to withdraw the consent that the probe agency had given in May last year.
     
Waze had moved a plea seeking to turn approver in the money laundering case saying he wanted to disclose the facts in the case and had also claimed he had fully cooperated with the probe agency.
     
As per the ED, Deshmukh, as state home minister, had collected Rs 4.70 crore from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai through Waze, who was with the metropolis' police at the time.
     
The money was then laundered and routed to the Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukh family, as per the ED.
     
Waze, however, is an approver in a related corruption case that is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
     
Waze was arrested in March 2021 for his alleged role in the case of an explosives-laden vehicle found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence in south Mumbai and the murder of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran.
     
Waze, who was dismissed from service following his arrest in the case involving the explosives-laden vehicle, is currently in judicial custody.