Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: June 06, 2022, at 21:54 IST
A Trial Court ordered Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain to be held in ED custody till June 9 in connection with a money laundering case. The order came a day after Jain was arrested for allegedly engaging in hawala transactions.
Jain is accused of accepting money from shell companies in lieu of cash transmitted via Hawala, an informal currency transfer channel that is frequently used for money laundering.
The case against Jain comes from a FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in August 2017 accusing him and others of having disproportionate assets.
The CBI claims that in the five years leading up to 2018, Jain purchased 200 bighas of agricultural property in Delhi in the names of firms controlled by him and “laundered black money” worth several crores of rupees.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested Jain on May 30, more than a month after the agency confiscated Rs 4.81 crore in assets linked to him. The ED sought Jain’s custody for 14 days during the court hearing on Tuesday. Jain was evasive during questioning, according to the ED, which told the Delhi Court.
“He gave answers contrary to collect evidence,” the ED said, until “we trace the full trail of money” the evidence in the case is likely to be tampered with.
However, the Court has ordered Jain to be held in ED custody until June 9. After a few hours of questioning, Jain was arrested under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), according to ED authorities.
Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Chief Minister, reacted to the news by saying, This case (Satyendar Jain’s arrest by the ED) was absolutely fraudulent, in his opinion. “We don’t tolerate or participate in corruption. We have a government that is really trustworthy. He’s being singled out for political purposes. We have faith in our legal system.”
Manish Sisodia, the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, branded the money laundering case against Jain “false.” He explained “A fake case has been going on against Satyendar Jain for eight years. He has been called by the ED several times so far.”
In Arvind Kejriwal’s government, Jain is the Minister for health, industry, power, housing, urban development, and water. The BJP had previously claimed that between 2015 and 2017, Jain was involved in “Hawala” work through various companies.
