New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted searches at the residence of Delhi’s Health and Home Minister Satyendar Jain in connection with alleged hawala transactions related to a Kolkata-based company.
The move comes days after the central probe agency arrested Jain on May 30. Jain will be under the custody of ED till June 9.
Jain was arrested after the ED in April this year 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 Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 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 the AAP leader based on this FIR which was lodged by the CBI in which it had been 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 also laundered black money worth Rs 16.39 crore through 54 shell companies of three hawala operators of Kolkata.
Reportedly, Jain owned a large number of shares in companies named Prayas, Indo, and Akinchan. However, after becoming Minister in Kejriwal’s government, all his shares were transferred to his wife in 2015.
These companies used to transfer cash payments to their Kolkata counterparts and later under the ruse of buying shares, would route back the money to Jain by employing legal means. The companies have reportedly laundered money to the tune of Rs 16.39 crores from 2010 to 2014 to Satyendra Jain.
As per government sources, when prosecuted by the I-T Department, Jain surrendered black money in form of cash of Rs 16.39 crore under Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS) 2016 on Benami names of Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain.
In November 2019, the Home Ministry approved the prosecution of Delhi minister Satyendra Jain in cases related to disproportionate assets and money laundering.
Besides, Home and Health, Jain holds Power and PWD, among other portfolios, in the AAP-led Delhi government.
The Delhi High court on Saturday stayed the order of a special court allowing Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain to have counsel during the interrogation by the ED.
Earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed an FIR against Jain in a money laundering case on August 25, 2017.