ACB books Aarey CEO

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered a disproportionate assets case against Aarey Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nathu Rathod, the agency informed on Friday. An enquiry by the ACB has revealed that Rathod had amassed property worth Rs 3.49 crore which is 555.09 per cent more than his known source of income.

On May 24, ACB had registered a bribery case against Rathod and security guard Arvind Tiwari for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 from a complainant who wanted to repair his house in Aarey Colony area and had met Rathod at his Goregaon office in April to obtain required permissions.

Rathod had instead directed him to meet guard Tiwari, who in turn had demanded Rs 50,000 bribe. The victim then approached ACB on May 14 and gave a written complaint. A verification of the allegations made by the complainant confirmed ACB that there was a bribe demand. Tiwari was caught red-handed while accepting money from the victim. The duo was later placed under arrest.

A day after their arrest, the ACB sleuths found unaccounted cash of Rs 3.46 crore from Rathod's residence.

"After huge amount of cash was seized from Rathod's residence search, we had initiated an open enquiry into his Disproportionate Assets. There is provision in the law that before registering of an offence an open enquiry can be initiated by the agency. Our enquiry has revealed that Rathod had amassed property Rs 3.49 crore, which is 555.09 per cent more than his legal and known source of income. We have registered offence of Disproportionate Assets against Rathod under the sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and are probing further," said an ACB official.