Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain
Highlights
- Satyendar Jain was arrested under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act
- A special judge had sought Jain's custodial interrogation for 14 days
- So far, Jain has been evasive in his replies to the agency
Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain's residence and other locations were on Monday morning raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths in connection with hawala transactions related to a Kolkata-based company, news agency ANI reported.
Jain was arrested by the agency on May 30 and sent to its custody till June 9 for "interrogation to unearth the alleged larger conspiracy". According to the ED, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was arrested under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Earlier in April, the ED had attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore owned by companies named Akinchan Developers Pvt. Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, and others under the PMLA in connection with disproportionate asset and money laundering case registered Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and others.
The ED had registered a criminal case against Jain based on an FIR which was lodged by the CBI in which it was alleged that Jain could not explain the source of funds received by four companies in which he was a shareholder. Jain had reportedly floated or bought several shell companies in Delhi.
He laundered black money worth Rs 16.39 crore through 54 shell companies of three hawala operators of Kolkata.
Money laundering case: Shell companies linked to Satyendar Jain
The arrest of Jain who hold Health, Home and other portfolios in the Arvind Kejriwal government has triggered a fresh war between the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP. While the AAP leaders are having a tough time defending Jain and merely indulging in a blamegame, the BJP has pulled out all the stops to attack Arvind Kejriwal and accused him of shielding a corrupt leader.
