Gujarat: Ex-KASEZ officer gets 5 years RI in disproportionate assets case

A CBI court in Ahmedabad convicted Kaushik Karelia, an ex-Appraiser/Preventive Officer, and his wife in a disproportionate assets case. Karelia was sentenced to 5 years RI with a Rs 63 lakh fine for amassing assets worth Rs 57.60 lakh.

The CBI Court Ahmedabad on Monday, convicted and sentenced the accused Kaushik Anvantrai Karelia, the then Appraiser/Preventive Officer, Kandla Special Economic Zone (KASEZ), presently working as Inspector, Central Excise and Service tax, Bhavnagar, to five years rigorous imprisonment (RI) with fine of Rs 63,00,000 in a Disproportionate Assets case, a release said. His wife, Pooja Karelia, has been sentenced to one year's imprisonment with a fine of Rs 50,000 for abetment of the offence in the said Disproportionate Assets (DA) case.

The Investigation and Chargesheet

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered the instant case on September 30, 2013, against the accused Kaushik Anvantrai Karelia, the then Appraiser/Preventive Officer, Kandla Special Economic Zone (KASEZ), presently working as Inspector, Central Excise and Service tax, Bhavnagar on the allegations that the accused during the period 01.09.2008 to 31.03.2013, had amassed assets disproportionate to their known source of income to the tune of Rs 19,86,661 which was 130% in excess to their known source of income.

During the investigation, the check period was revised from 01.04.2004 to 20.03.2013. After the Investigation, CBI filed a chargesheet on 03.09.2014 against the accused Kaushik Anvantrai Karelia and Pooja Karelia, Wife of Kaushik Karelia, for amassing assets to the tune of Rs 57,60,729.15 disproportionate to their known source of income, which is 183.57% in excess of their known source of income, said the release. The Court, after the trial, convicted and sentenced the accused persons accordingly.

Separate LIC Fraud Case

Earlier, on December 26, a Special CBI Court Lucknow had sentenced two accused to five years' imprisonment with a fine of Rs 12 lakh each for cheating LIC of India. The accused have been identified as Braj Kumar Pandey and Manish Kumar Srivastava. (ANI)

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