Anil Deshmukh extortion case

On 18 March 2021, Param Bir Singh, who had worked closely with him, was removed from his post of Mumbai Police Commissioner. Singh claimed, in a detailed letter to the Maharashtra Chief Minister, that Vaze was involved in a scheme to collect ₹100 Crore from businesses in Mumbai per month as demanded by the Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. Deshmukh's office denied the claim and stated that Param Bir Singh made false allegations against him to save himself from legal action.

Devendra Fadnavis claimed that Vaze and Param Bir Singh were just pawns in the hands of the current Maha Vikas Aghadi (a coalition of NCP, Shiv Sena and Indian National Congress) state government. Param Bir Singh asked the Supreme Court on March 22 for a CBI probe against Deshmukh, claiming interference by him in police investigations.

Mumbai-based newspaper Mid-day has learned from members of Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR) that Vaze had started collecting money from December 2020. Vaze would call from his office inside the compound of the Commissioner of Police office to pay monthly amounts and if paid, he would ensure that Social Service Branch would not conduct any raids. It reported a source stating that "SSB carried out raids at hotels and bars and filed cases. The last SSB raid was in early February. After that, no raid was conducted as everybody agreed to pay the money to be able to operate."