Satyendar Jain in fresh trouble? ED attaches assets worth ₹7.44 crore in PMLA case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday, September 23, said it attached immovable properties amounting to ₹7.44 crore of companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, who held key portfolios under the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, as part of a money laundering investigation.

In a statement, the federal probe agency said that it issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on September 15, PTI reported.

The investigation involves allegations of holding benami assets as well as a separate charge of possessing disproportionate assets against Jain, his wife Poonam Jain and others. This money laundering case is reportedly based on a CBI FIR and chargesheet.

Jain is accused of “acquiring” disproportionate assets during his tenure as a minister in the Delhi government from February 14, 2015, to May 31, 2017.

In 2022, the ED had seized assets worth ₹4.81 crore belonging to Jain.

The fresh attachment follows a recent Delhi High Court ruling that identified Jain’s close associates, Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain, as his “benami holders". They reportedly deposited ₹7.44 crore in cash as advance tax under the Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS), 2016, at the Bank of Baroda, Bhogal Branch.

Delhi court closes corruption case against Jain

Delhi's Rouse Avenue court last month accepted the CBI's closure report in a 2018 case involving the former Delhi PWD minister and others, concerning alleged corruption in hiring a creative team for the department, PTI reported. The court noted that the “investigation found no criminal activity or wrongful loss to the government”.

Jain stated that during the raids at his residence in 2019, the CBI did not discover any thing. "This case was registered against me on May 29, 2019. My house was raided on May 30. It was national news at the time; every media channel was covering it. Everything was turned upside down. Books were searched. Even my children's bags were searched, but nothing was found," he said.

"What my family had to face was not right. I am the son of a teacher. Arvind Kejriwal had told me that if I joined AAP, we might be sent to jail. I thought it was a joke, but later I understood politics. There was no case against me before I entered politics. We have become an example for the middle class that if you dare to join politics, this is what will happen to you," he added.

(With inputs from PTI)