The Enforcement Directorate has once again added to the troubles of former Delhi Minister Satyendra Kumar Jain. The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 7.44 crore belonging to companies beneficially owned and controlled by Mr Jain.
The action, taken on September 15, was carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The money laundering probe stems from a CBI FIR registered in August 2017, alleging that Mr Jain had amassed disproportionate assets between February 2015 and May 2017 while serving as a minister in the Delhi government. The CBI later filed a chargesheet in December 2018 against him, his wife Poonam Jain, and others.
The ED investigation revealed that immediately after demonetization (in November 2016), Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain, close associates of Satyendra Jain, deposited Rs 7.44 crore in cash at the Bank of Baroda, Bhogal branch in Delhi. They paid this money as advance tax under the Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS), claiming ownership of assets worth Rs 16.53 crore across several companies.
They claimed that this money came from their four companies: Akinchan Developers, Prayas Infosolutions, Mangalayatan Projects, and Indo Metal Impex.
However, the Income Tax Department and courts, including the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court, upheld that these assets were actually held for Jain.
Earlier, in March 2022, the ED had attached properties worth Rs 4.81 crore linked to Mr Jain, followed by a prosecution complaint in July 2022.
With the latest action, the total value of assets attached in the case now stands at Rs 12.25 crore, representing 100 per cent of the alleged disproportionate assets.
The agency confirmed that a supplementary prosecution complaint will soon be filed, while the trial continues before the Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi.
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