ED attaches assets worth over Rs 7 Cr in benami case against AAP's Satyendar Jain

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has attached fresh assets worth Rs 7.44 crore of companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain as part of an alleged "benami" assets-linked money-laundering case.

The action came after the Delhi High Court ruled in an income-tax department case recently that the AAP leader's close associates -- Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain -- were his "benami holders" and deposited Rs 7.44 crore "in cash" at the Bank of Baroda's Bhogal branch here as advance tax under the Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS) of 2016, the federal agency said in a statement.

"The Hon'ble Supreme Court dismissed their (the accused) SLPs and review petitions, rendering the finding (of the high court) final," it said.

The IDS of 2016 was bought by the Union government, offering a one-time chance to the holders of domestic income and assets that had illegally escaped taxes to come clean by paying the tax and a 45-per cent penalty.

"Benami" means "no name" or "without name" and such properties are not purchased in the name of the real beneficiary.

The ED alleged that under the IDS, Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain claimed beneficial ownership of income or assets of Rs 16.53 crore received between 2011 and 2016 in the accounts of companies, such as Akinchan Developers, Paryas Infosolutions, Manglayatan Projects and Indo Metal Impex.

These entities were "beneficially owned and controlled" by Satyendar Kumar Jain, the agency said.

The 60-year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has maintained that he has done no wrong and has been a victim of a political conspiracy.

The ED said it has shared this information with the CBI, which chargesheeted Satyendar Jain, his wife Poonam Jain and others in December 2018 in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

The CBI, it said, further investigated the matter and subsequently, filed a supplementary chargesheet, "enhancing" the disproportionate assets attributed to Satyendar Jain during his tenure as a minister in the Delhi government from February 14, 2015 to May 31, 2017.

Following this CBI prosecution complaint, the ED said it identified fresh assets worth Rs 7.44 crore and issued a provisional order for their attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on September 15.

It said it will "soon" file a fresh chargesheet against the accused in this benami assets case.

Satyendar Jain was arrested in the DA-linked money-laundering case by the ED in May 2022. He is currently out on bail after spending 18 months in jail.

In March 2022, the ED attached assets worth Rs 4.81 crore in the DA case and alleged that the properties belonged to companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by Satyendar Jain.

It also filed a chargesheet against the AAP leader and some linked persons in July 2022. The trial in the case is ongoing before a special PMLA court at Rouse Avenue in Delhi.