The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth ₹7.44 crore belonging to companies allegedly "beneficially owned and controlled" by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain. The ED issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on September 15 to attach the immovable properties.
The ED's money laundering case against Jain stems from a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2017. The CBI accused Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and others of amassing disproportionate assets between February 14, 2015, and May 31, 2017, while he was serving as a minister in the Delhi government. A chargesheet was filed by the CBI against Jain and others in December 2018.
According to the ED, Jain's close associates, Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain, deposited ₹7.44 crore in cash in Bank of Baroda, Bhogal Branch (Delhi), as advance tax under the Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS), 2016, soon after demonetization in November 2016. They declared assets worth ₹16.53 crore in the names of four companies. Authorities later determined that Jain beneficially owned and controlled these companies. The companies are Akinchan Developers Private Limited, Paryas Infosolutions Private Limited, Manglayatan Projects Private Limited, and Indo Metal Impex Private.
Prior to this recent attachment, the ED had already attached assets worth ₹4.81 crore belonging to companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by Jain on March 31, 2022. They also filed a prosecution complaint in July of the same year. With the latest action, the total value of properties attached in this case now stands at ₹12.25 crore. The agency claims this represents the entire value of the disproportionate assets allegedly acquired by Jain. The ED will soon file a supplementary prosecution complaint in the matter. The court trial in the case is currently underway.
Jain was arrested by the ED in May 2022 on charges of laundering money through shell companies allegedly linked to him.
