ED files chargesheet against former club official in Rs 79 crore money laundering case

The ED has filed a chargesheet against Bernadette Bharat Varma, her husband and nine others in a case involving Rs 79 crore from the United Services Club. The agency says assets worth over Rs 47 crore have been provisionally attached

Mumbai: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Mumbai Zonal Office, has filed a chargesheet under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) against Bernadette Bharat Varma, her husband and nine others before the Special Court (PMLA), Mumbai, an ED press release said.

The chargesheet was filed on September 30, 2026, for the offence of money laundering under Section 3 of the PMLA, which is punishable under Section 4 of the Act.

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The Special Court has ordered the issuance of pre-cognisance notices to the accused in the matter. The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by Cuffe Parade Police Station, Mumbai, under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

It is alleged that Bernadette Bharat Varma, who was working as Ex-Deputy Secretary (Finance) with the United Services Club, took advantage of the trust reposed in her by the club.

She opened fake bank accounts in the names of the club’s vendors and transferred an amount of around ₹77.52 crore into these accounts, the ED said.

Investigation has revealed that Bernadette Bharat Varma, in connivance with her husband Bharatkumar Shankarlal Varma, diverted funds of more than ₹79 crore belonging to the United Services Club to multiple dummy bank accounts. These accounts were opened and operated by Bharat Kumar Varma fraudulently in names similar to entities which are or were genuine vendors of the United Services Club, it said.

Subsequently, Bernadette and Bharat Varma layered the proceeds of crime through numerous inter-account transfers among various dummy entities. The funds were then transferred into their own personal bank accounts, joint accounts and accounts of their family members. Part of the proceeds of crime were utilised by the accused for the acquisition of immovable properties, fixed deposits, luxury vehicles, foreign travels with family and for maintaining a luxury lifestyle, the ED further said.

After the fraudulent transactions of the main accused were detected during an audit of the United Services Club conducted by a Chartered Accountant appointed in August 2024, the accused transferred part of the proceeds of crime amounting to around ₹11 crore to one Foundation/Trust pursuant to illegal demands made by the said Chartered Accountant.

These funds were mainly utilised by the Chartered Accountant and/or his relatives and associates, it said.

Earlier, the ED had provisionally attached several immovable properties in the nature of flats, land and shops in Mumbai and Raigad area, along with movable properties in the form of fixed deposits and bank balances, totalling more than ₹47 crore under Section 5 of the PMLA, 2002. Further investigation in the case is under progress.