ED recovers over Rs 2 crore in cash, jewellery worth lakhs after searches at the premises of aides of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain.
Highlights
- ED conducted raids against arrested Delhi minister Satyendar Jain as part of money laundering case
- Kejriwal alleged Centre saying the Prime Minister is working against the AAP with full force
- BJP leader Kapil Mishra accused AAP chief Kejriwal saying he's the real mastermind behind corruption
Satyendar Jain corruption case: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recovered over Rs 2 crore in cash and jewellery from the aides of Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain in the alleged corruption case. The searches at the residential premises of Satyendar Jain, aides were conducted on Monday.
According to reports, Rs 2.23 crore cash has been found from Ram Prakash Jeweller, while Rs 41.5 lakh including (Rs 20 lakh cash (approx) and 133 gold coins) has been recovered from one Vaibhav Jain.
The Enforcement Directorate conducted raids against arrested Delhi minister Satyendar Jain as part of a money-laundering probe linked to an alleged hawala dealings case being conducted against him, officials said.
The raids, including that at the residential premises of Jain in Delhi and other locations, were being conducted as part of a "follow up" in the case, they said.
ED recoveres cash, gold coins from aides of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in alleged corruption case.
Hitting out at the Centre in wake of recent ED raids against Satyendar Jain and his aides, AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, "At present, the Prime Minister is with full force behind the Aam Aadmi Party - especially the governments of Delhi and Punjab... Lie after lie... You have the power of all agencies, but God is with us."
Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, "BJP has broken all limits of lies and shamelessness! Only Rs 2,79,000 have been found at Satyendar Jain's house. ED searched for hours but did not find any evidence, now BJP is making false allegations against anyone by calling them close aides of Satyendar Jain. How stoop will BJP fall more?"
Slamming the Delhi Health Minister and CM Kejriwal, BJP leader Kapil Mishra wrote on Twitter, "Crores of cash, gold coins are being seized from Satyendra Jain's house, according to Kejriwal, he is an honest man... corruption of Satyendra Jain is only a glimpse, the real mastermind is Kejriwal, Kejriwal's corruption will surprise the world."
Speaking on the matter, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said, "the seizure memo of the ED raid was given to the wife and daughter of Satyendar Jain. In the memo, it was mentioned that various documents, one digital device, and Rs 2,79,200 was recovered during the search. However the same were not seized."
AAP MP Sanjay Singh has also spoken on the recent ED raids saying, "Interrogation with Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain was done, but nothing was recovered. ED found no corruption. In High Court, they said there's no FIR against him; why was he arrested then? Raid was done to hide international insult India is facing."
Jain, 57, was arrested on May 30 under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he is in ED custody till June 9.
The agency is understood to have found some new evidence and links after it questioned Jain and some alleged hawala operators over the last few days. The raids were launched to gather further details on these inputs, officials said.
Jain is currently a minister without any portfolio in the Delhi government. Over half-a-dozen portfolios of Jain were transferred to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on June 2.
Delhi Minister Arvind Kejriwal has defended Jain as a "hardcore honest and patriot" person who was being "framed in a false case" and hoped the minister will come out clean after the ED probe.
In April, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 4.81 crore of Jain's family and companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by him as part of the probe.
In a statement then, the ED had said it issued a provisional order under the PMLA to "attach 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."
The probe found that "during 2015 and 2016, 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 named persons in the attachment order are associates and family members of Jain, officials had 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.
A charge sheet was filed by the CBI in December 2018 stating that the alleged disproportionate assets were valued at 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.
(With inputs from PTI)
ALSO READ | BJP vs AAP: War of words intensifies over Satyendar Jain's arrest in money laundering case
ALSO READ | Prophet comment: Suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma summoned on June 22 by Thane Police
