MVA leader Ratnakar Gutte siphoned off over Rs 600 crore loans availed as loans for farmers

The Enforcement Directorate has told a special court here that Maharashtra MLA Ratnakar Gutte had allegedly forged proposals for loans for farmers and siphoned off the money through his company.

Its probe has revealed that Gutte, through his company Gangakhed Sugar & Energy, availed of Rs 635.89 crore of loans in the name of farmers, the agency recently told the court that functions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED made the submission while opposing the bail application of Gutte. However, the special PMLA court earlier this month granted him bail, allowing the arguments of his lawyer Vijay Aggarwal that the ED had not arrested Gutte during the course of its investigation and that he had appeared on every occasion when summoned by the agency. The lawyer also pointed out that the ED had already filed a prosecution complaint (equivalent to a chargesheet) in the case and also attached his properties.


The ED, however, contested the bail plea, arguing that Gutte took the decisions to avail of loans in the name of farmers and utilised the money for purposes other than those declared before the banks. "That he is an influential person, the possibility of tampering of evidence, cannot be fully ruled out," the ED's reply said. “The economic offence has deep rooted conspiracies and involves huge loss of public funds, and needs to be viewed seriously,” it said.

According to the agency’s court filing reviewed by ET, Gangakhed Sugar & Energy, where Gutte was the chairman and managing director, had projected itself as a guarantor for the loans. However, once the loan amount was disbursed in the farmers’ accounts, it was siphoned off to the accounts of the company using forged consent letters, the ED claimed. The money was then layered through a web of transactions and was used for the business operations of the company, instead of agricultural purposes.