Dawood’s Shadow: Nawab Malik Charged in Explosive PMLA Case Over Underworld Land Grab
Former Maharashtra Minister to face trial for money laundering linked to Dawood Ibrahim’s syndicate.
In a major setback to former Maharashtra minister and senior NCP leader Nawab Malik, a special PMLA court on Monday formally framed charges against him in a money-laundering case directly linked to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his late sister Hasina Parkar.
Special Judge Satyanarayan Navander, presiding over the court designated for cases involving MPs and MLAs, charged Malik under Section 3 (money laundering) read with Section 70 (offence by company) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Malik pleaded not guilty, paving the way for a full trial. The Enforcement Directorate had registered the case in February 2022 and arrested the former minister the same month. He is presently on medical bail granted by the Supreme Court.
The core allegation revolves around a 2,986-sq-metre plot in Goawala Compound, Kurla (West), originally owned by two women, Munira Plumber and Marium Goawala. According to the ED, Hasina Parkar, through her close aide Salim Patel (also known as Salim Fruit), forcibly usurped the land by forging a power of attorney. The property was subsequently transferred to Solidus Investments Pvt Ltd, a company allegedly controlled by Parkar and Dawood’s syndicate. Solidus collected rent from tenants until 2010–11, after which Malik’s firm, Malik Infrastructure, took over rent collection, repairs and redevelopment activities.
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Last week, Malik Infrastructure filed a discharge application claiming it came into existence only in 2010–11 and had merely entered a legitimate lease agreement with Solidus, hence it cannot be linked to the original crime. The court, however, rejected the plea and proceeded to frame charges against the company as well.
The case also names Sardar Khan, a 1993 Mumbai blasts convict serving life imprisonment in Amravati jail, as the fourth accused. Since Khan is already in judicial custody, the court will forward the charge documents separately to the prison authorities for further proceedings.
With charges now framed, the high-profile trial will delve deeper into the alleged nexus between politicians, builders and the Dawood underworld network in Mumbai’s lucrative real-estate market. The development marks another chapter in the ED’s aggressive crackdown on money trails linked to India’s most-wanted terrorist.
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