ED Seizes ₹7.44 Crore Assets of Satyendra Jain Linked to Demonetization

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken another major action in the money laundering case against former Delhi government minister Satyendra Jain. On Tuesday, the ED provisionally seized benami assets worth ₹7.44 crore belonging to Jain. This action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). With this, the total amount of assets seized in this case has reached ₹12.25 crore.

The ED investigation is based on an FIR registered by the CBI on August 24, 2017, in which Satyendra Jain is accused of amassing disproportionate assets while he was a minister (February 2015 to May 2017).

The investigation revealed that in November 2016, shortly after demonetization, Satyendra Jain's close associates, Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain, deposited ₹7.44 crore in cash at the Bhogal branch of Bank of Baroda in Delhi. This money was paid as advance tax under the Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS). They claimed the money came from four of their companies: Akinchon Developers, Prayas Infosolutions, Mangalayatan Projects, and Indo Metal Impex.

However, the Income Tax Department and the courts, in their investigations, found that these companies actually belonged to Satyendra Jain, and that Ankush and Vaibhav Jain were merely acting as his benamis. This decision was also upheld by the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court, which dismissed all of Ankush and Vaibhav's petitions.

The ED also provided this information to the CBI, based on which the CBI filed a supplementary charge sheet, further increasing the amount of Jain's benami assets. The ED had previously seized assets worth ₹4.81 crore in this case on March 31, 2022. With this new action, the total seized assets now stand at ₹12.25 crore, which is believed to be entirely illegal assets allegedly acquired by Satyendra Jain.