New Delhi: The CBI has registered an FIR against filmmaker Ashoke Pandit’s younger brother Deepak Pandit, an Assistant Commissioner of GST and Central Excise, on charges of amassing movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 3.96 crore between 2000 and 2014 which were disproportionate to his income.
Based on “reliable information”, the CBI said that its Anti Corruption Branch in Mumbai found that Deepak, while working in the customs Department in Mumbai between January 1, 2000 and March 31, 2014, had accumulated these assets in his name and in the name of his family members.
The assets are 376 per cent above his known sources of income, the agency said on Friday.
In an FIR filed on Tuesday, the CBI said that Deepak abused his official position and indulged in corruption for amassing these assets.In a tweet in 2018, Ashoke Pandit had described him as his “younger brother”.
The agency has booked Deepak Pandit, his wife Arushi and two sons Ashutosh and Divyansh. The CBI on Thursday carried out searches at seven residential premises — six in Mumbai and one in Bhubaneswar — of Deepak and his family members.
Deepak started his career with the Customs department as a clerk in 1985 in Mumbai and was later promoted as preventive officer. He became a Superintendent of Customs in 2002 and subsequently was promoted as Assistant Commissioner in 2014 at Mumbai.
He was transferred as Assistant Commissioner of GST and Central Excise, Appeals Commissionerate, Raigad during September 2019.
He is presently posted at the office of GST and Central Excise at Bhubaneswar. The CBI FIR mentions that during the check period from January 1, 2000 to March 31, 2014 he acquired assets in the form of immovable properties and movable properties like bank balances, fixed deposits, mutual funds in his own name and in the names of his family members worth over Rs 4.39 crore against likely savings of over Rs 43.42 lakh.
“Thus, the accused Deepak Pandit was found in possession of disproportionate assets to the tune of over Rs 3.96 crore. acquired in his own name and the names of his wife and two sons,” the FIR said.
