Mumbai: ‘Sameer Wankhede declared Rs 1 lakh expense on 19-day London trip’

The initial tipoff received by the Narcotics Control Bureau NCB Mumbai did not mention the names of Aryan Khan the Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant reveals the detailed investigation report submitted before the Delhi High Court The probe was conducted against NCBrsquos former zonal Mumbai director Sameer Wankhede and other officers who are accused of various misconducts in the lsquodrugsoncruisersquo caseNCBrsquos Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh led the special enquiry teamrsquos SET investigation into the matter Below are the findings in the vigilance report and also the details of the expenses that Wankhede has not been able to explainTipoff note tampered with It appeared that the original information note was modified at the last moment and the names of Aryan Arbaaz were included while the names of some suspects were dropped No documentation of seizure Neither the panchnama mentioned any phones of the suspects seized nor was there a separate seizure memo Thus no formal documents were made for seizure of the phones In the absence of a seizure memo the chain of custody of the seized phonemdashvital evidencemdashwas affectedSameer Wankhede outside NCB office in Ballard EstateAllegation of valuables taken without documentation Several witnesses examined by the SET stated that their and other suspectsrsquo valuables were taken by NCB Mumbai officers without documentation Allegation of settlement in matter of suspect Saumya Singh The information note had her name and despite the recovery of rolling papers from her bag she was given a clean chit The witnesses examined by the SET also showed her as a drug addict She did not appear or assist in the enquiry of the SETAlso Read Aryan Khan case Sameer Wankhedes foreign visits expensive watches under CBI scannerCCTV footage The CCTV equipment of the NCB office was collected by the SET to verify the facts however it was found that the same has gone corrupt The DVR and the hard disk provided by the NCB Mumbai office were different It appears from the actions of the Zone that the CCTV footage had something important and the same was intentionally not provided to the SETLapses in the custody of Aryan and Arbaaz The statements of the witnesses established that accused Aryan and Arbaaz were brought to the NCB office in a private vehicle of K P Gosavi instead of an office car The audio recording of Aryan circulated by Gosavi is again a procedural lapseExpenses unexplainedThe vigilance report also highlights misconduct and violations of Central Civil Services Rules by Wankhede According to the report Wankhedersquos average annual income as per the ITR was about Rs 1575 lakh salary and rent his wife Krantirsquos about Rs 7 lakh business and fatherrsquos pension and rent about Rs 345 lakh The expenses of the declared private visits have been apparently underreported by WankhedeIn a span of about five years from 2017 to 2021 he and his family made six private foreign visits to countries like UK Ireland Portugal South Africa and the Maldives spanning over 55 days of foreign stay with a declared amount of only R875 lakh which can barely cover the cost of air travels the report notedIn all the visits expenditure incurred onwards travelling lodging boarding VISA miscellaneous expenses declared by him is between R1 lakh and R25 lakh which is clearly incorrect declarationunderreporting Dubious transactions of Wankhede came to light with respect to his Maldives trip in July 2021The report states that various details like the mode of travel hotel booking payment etc are unclear for his last trip to the Maldives The question that arises from the lack of information is whether hospitality was accepted from any foreign source If so had Wankhede obtained necessary permission under the provisions of Foreign Contribution Regulation ActRules from the Union home ministry the report addedThe vigilance report also states that the payment of Rs 903055 in cash by Wankhedersquos friend Viral Jamaluddin to JDrsquos Partner for hotel booking raises doubt about unaccounted money laundering The 19day long visit to London for tourism cannot be justified with a declared expense of Rs 1 lakh it addedWankhede purchased a Rolex Gold watch worth Rs 2205000 for Rs 1740000 on credit from Viral There are multiple invoicesquotes of Rolex watches The report further mentioned a ldquodubious transactionrdquo of Rs 740000 through cheque for four watches that were sold by Wankhede to Viral The cheque was issued in the name of Kranti Redkar It is also pertinent to raise the doubt that as to how Wankhede got the payment immediately for the sold watches unknown buyers and how he gets the facility of credit for the purchase of a new watch worth R22 lakh the report statedDisproportionate assetsIn respect to disproportionate asset enquiry against Wankhede the SET found that Wankhede owns four flats in Mumbai and 41688acre land in Washim He claimed to have spent Rs 8287399 on a fifth flat in Goregaon valued at Rs 24549918 Wankhede has said that his wife Kranti had invested Rs 125 crore in their flat before their wedding on February 8 2017 But the SET could not verify it as they have not furnished the ITR of financial year 201617Wankhede moves HCMeanwhile Wankhede has moved an application before the Delhi High Court seeking relief stating that he has answered every question with facts He has sought to register a cross FIR against his senior officer Gyaneshwar Singh claiming he has been framedWankhede has also submitted along with his petition copies of his WhatsApp chats with senior officers wherein he informed them of every move during the raid on the Cordelia ship and the subsequent arrest of Aryan ldquoWe were not aware of what he and some members of his team were doing behind the curtain The facts were revealed during the vigilance enquiry and action was initiated against himrdquo a senior NCB officer told middaySixNo of foreign trips he his family made in 5 yearsRs 17 lakhCost of the Rolex watch he purchased on credit