ED Arrests Two More Aides of Delhi Min Satyendar Jain in Money Laundering Case

The two arrested have been taken into custody under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Delhi minister Satyendar Jain.

(Photo Courtesy: Satyendar Jain/Twitter)

Initiating fresh action in the money laundering case registered against Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, the ED arrested two businessmen, Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain, allegedly linked to him, officials said on Friday, July 1.

The two have been taken into custody under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

They were placed under arrest following questioning as officials claimed they were "evasive".

The federal probe agency had raided the two, alleged to be "business associates" of Jain, last month as part of this investigation.

Satyendar Jain, 57, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on May 30 under the criminal sections of the PMLA and is in judicial custody at present.

He is the minister without portfolio in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government. Earlier, Jain held health, power and few other charges.

The agency has conducted at least two rounds of raids against his family and associates after it arrested the minister in the PMLA case linked to alleged hawala dealings.

It had claimed to have seized "unexplained" cash worth Rs 2.85 crore and 133 gold coins after the first round of raids conducted on June 6 against Satyendar Jain's family and others.

Those raided included Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain, Satyendar Jain's wife Poonam Jain, Naveen Jain and Siddharth Jain (directors of Ram Prakash Jewellers Pvt Ltd), G S Matharoo (chairman of Lala Sher Singh Jivan Vigyan Trust which runs Prudence group of schools), Yogesh Kumar Jain (director in Ram Prakash Jewellers Pvt Ltd.), father-in-law of Ankush Jain and Lala Sher Singh Jivan Vigyan Trust.

In April, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 4.81 crore of Satyendar Jain's family and companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by him as part of the probe.

In a statement issued then, the ED had said the provisional order attached "immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd., Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd., Manglayatan Projects Pvt Ltd., J J Ideal Estate Pvt Ltd., Swati Jain, wife of Vaibhav Jain, Sushila Jain, wife of Ajit Prasad Jain, and Indu Jain, wife of Sunil Jain."

Delhi chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had defended his minister saying he was as a "hardcore honest and patriot" person who was being framed in a "false case" and hoped he will come out clean after the ED probe.

ED Alleges Assets Worth of Rs 4.81 Crore

The probe found, the ED had alleged, that "during the period 2015-16, when Satyendar Kumar Jain was a public servant, the companies beneficially owned and controlled by him received accommodation entries to the tune of Rs 4.81 crore from shell (paper) companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through the hawala route".

"These amounts were utilised for direct purchase of land or for repayment of loan taken for the purchase of agricultural land in and around Delhi," the ED said.

The money laundering case against the AAP minister stems from an August 2017 FIR filed by the CBI against him and others on charges of alleged possession of disproportionate assets (DA).

A charge sheet was filed by the CBI in December, 2018 stating that the alleged DA was to the tune of Rs 1.47 crore, about 217 per cent more than his known sources of income, during 2015-17.

The Income Tax Department too had probed these transactions and had issued an order attaching "benami assets" allegedly linked to Jain.