Unmesh Gujarathi
Sprouts Exclusive
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of ‘Sprouts’ has received shocking information that the lawyer of Mumbai Bank, Akhilesh Mayashankar Chaubey who threatened the editor of ‘Sprouts’ through a notice, is a taxchor (tax evader). Sprouts demands that the Bar Council of India and Maharashtra cancel his enrollment for bringing disrepute to the noble profession.
Mumbai Bank had recently sent a legal notice to the editor of ‘Sprouts’ through Adv. Akhilesh Mayashankar Chaubey. Chaubey is considered to be close to Pravin Darekar whose corrupt activities are well known.
Chaubey did not pay his Income tax liability of Rs 48 lakhs due to which the Income Tax Department issued a notice to Mumbai Bank on February 15, 2019, demanding that his bank account be attached.
Mumbai Bank was also ordered to deposit the amount in Chaubey’s account and be transferred to the Income Tax Department. Sprouts is in possession of a copy of the IT notice.
But, Mumbai Bank’s Chairman Darekar saved this tax cheat of a lawyer by closing the account after which he immediately opened another account with the ‘Mangal Co. Op. Bank to which the money was transferred as per reliable sources.
Sprouts Demand for inquiry:
Taxchor lawyer Akhilesh Mayashankar Chaubey has defrauded the Income Tax Department of nearly half a crore and the Government should investigate the malpractices.
Sprouts demands that after proper investigation, the Income Tax should write to the Bar council to cancel his enrolment as a lawyer for this grave financial fraud.
What is the case?
* Pravin Darekar, the highly corrupt and controversial chairman of Mumbai Bank, got his own brother elected unopposed by sidelining other worthy candidates. To achieve this he has misused the Eknath Shinde- Devendra Fadnavis government.
He has ‘managed’ the Election Authority itself and this shocking information was first brought to the notice of readers by ‘Sprouts’. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has also given a clean chit to a corrupt chairman like Pravin Darekar and which is a totally wrong decision.
* In Maharashtra, EOW is an investigating wing of the Mumbai Police that works under the state government. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has clearly misused his office to pressure the EOW to favour Darekar.
As a result, thousands of shareholders and depositors of the bank are likely to suffer huge financial losses. Some depositors of the bank have decided to go to the High Court against this arbitrary and biased decision on which Sprouts had filed a report.
* This Sprouts special report made corrupt Darekar and his camp angry after which a notice was sent to the editor of ‘Sprouts’ on behalf of Mumbai Bank and Darekar asking it to publish an apology.
A threat has also been given in the said notice that civil and criminal action will be taken if this apology is not published.
* Loot of crores of rupees in the name of the legal department, matters of the bank under which even personal cases of directors are handled by the same tax cheat of a lawyer. The bills of these personal cases are also paid by Mumbai Bank.
When the news of a scam in Mumbai bank comes into the media, cases are registered and journalists are silenced while a few friendly journalists are given ‘Packets’ to silence them.
* The corruption by the bank’s individual directors is defended at cost of the bank thus leading to a waste of crores of depositors’ hard-earned savings and which thus helps the tax cheat lawyer.
Speaking to the ‘Sprouts’ Dhananjay Shinde, spokesman for Aam Aadmi Party demands a special probe by RBI into this scam before the bank goes bust leaving thousands of common people duped of their hard-earned savings.