Overview
- Kharat, who the Enforcement Directorate arrested on Tuesday after a Mumbai court approved the move, was brought from Nashik jail for questioning under the anti–money laundering law.
- A Special PMLA Court has now remanded him to ED custody until May 26 for custodial interrogation.
- The ED alleges he ran more than 60 accounts, including 43 opened in a single day in 2021, with one phone number linked to many of them and transactions topping ₹70 crore through a co‑operative credit society.
- According to the agency, he extracted money by claiming spiritual powers and selling ordinary items such as tamarind seeds and honey as ‘blessed’ goods, which left followers paying large sums for promised cures or relief.
- Officials are tracing properties, lockers and possible overseas links, and investigators are checking source-based claims that he tried to withdraw about ₹52 crore through proxy accounts to flee abroad, which remain under probe.