ED arrests Satyendar Jain in Rs 4.8-cr money laundering case
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi's Health minister Satyendar Jain in connection with a money laundering case, officials said. According to senior ED officials related to the probe, Jain was arrested by the agency under the sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a few hours of questioning.
They alleged he was "evasive" in his replies. The minister is expected to be produced before a designated court on Tuesday.
The ED official also confirmed that the Shakur Basti MLA was arrested in connection with hawala transactions related to a Kolkata-based company.
In April this year, the financial probe agency already attached properties worth Rs 4.81 crore of the family and companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by the Delhi Cabinet minister in connection with a money-laundering probe.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's January prediction about the imminent arrest of his Health minister came true on Monday.
"From our sources, we have got to know that right before Punjab polls, in the coming few days, the ED is going to arrest (Delhi Health and Home minister) Satyendar Jain. They are most welcome. Previously too, the Centre had conducted raids on Satyendar Jain but got nothing," Kejriwal had said this in January.
Reacting sharply to the arrest, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday said Jain has been held in an eight-year-old "fake" case as he is the AAP's in-charge of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections and the BJP is afraid of losing the polls.
"A fake case has been going on against Satyendar Jain for eight years. He has been called by the ED several times so far. The ED had stopped calling him for some time because it did not find anything against him. Now, it has started again because he is the in-charge of Himachal Pradesh elections," Sisodia said in a tweet in Hindi.
"The BJP is afraid of losing the elections and hence he was arrested to prevent him from going to Himachal. He will be released soon as he has been arrested in a fake case," Sisodia added.
Jain, 57, is the minister for health, industries, power, home, urban development and water in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.
The Himachal Pradesh assembly polls are slated for later this year and the AAP is looking to make inroads into the state after its stupendous victory in Punjab earlier this year. Sanjay Singh, the national spokesperson for the AAP, has said the Centre once again misused investigative agencies and Jain will come out free because it is a false case.
"No matter how many steps BJP takes, AAP will fight and win the elections in Himachal Pradesh," Singh said.
"In every such incident, our leaders have come out clean. CBI had given Jain a clean chit. What is the need for this arrest? When Jain appeared before the agency seven times he was not arrested. When he was made Himachal in-charge, he is being harassed," he added.
In April this year, in an official statement, the Enforcement Directorate mentioned that it has issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for the attachment of the assets.
"The attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belong 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," it said.
The probe found that "during the period 2015-16, when 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 companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through the hawala route. "These amounts were utilised for direct purchase of land or repayment of loan taken for the purchase of agricultural land in and around Delhi," the ED had mentioned.
It started probing the case of money laundering against the AAP minister, based on a CBI FIR registered against him in August 2017 on charges of alleged possession of disproportionate assets.
Earlier, the ED had questioned Satyendra Jain in connection with the case in 2018.
