Odisha: ED chargesheets former IFS officer Abhay Pathak, son in money laundering case

Bhubaneswar: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed chargesheet against former Odisha cadre Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Abhay Kant Pathak and his son Akash Pathak in connection with a money laundering case in a local court here.

The ED has mentioned the names of 40 witnesses to the case in the 300-page chargesheet against the father-son duo, sources said.

The court will conduct hearing on the case only after receiving the replies of the defendants in the case, sources added.

The ED had provisionally attached assets worth Rs 66 lakh of Pathak under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in May this year.

Prior to this, the ED had carried out searches in connection with the money laundering case registered against Pathak, a former Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Addl. PCCF) in Odisha.

The central agency had initiated investigation against Pathak under the PMLA, 2002 on the basis of an FIR lodged by the Vigilance department over disproportionate assets worth around Rs 9 crore possessed by the former IFS officer and his family members.

During the search, the ED had seized a BMW car worth around Rs 75 lakh from Pathak’s son.

It is worth mentioning here that Odisha police had registered several other cases against Pathak and his son on charges of duping gullible youths on promise of providing jobs in Tata Motors.

The ED had earlier carried out searches at the residence of Pathak in the capital city here in December, 2021 under PMLA, 2002.

The ED had then provisionally attached assets worth Rs 29.83 lakh of the former IFS officer, sources said.

Notably, Pathak had been given compulsory retirement over allegations of amassing disproportionate assets in 2021.