Money laundering case: Jain's judicial custody extended till July 20

The Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi on Monday extended the judicial custody of Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain till July 20, 2022, in a money laundering case.

The court also sends Vaibhav Jain to judicial custody in the same case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday produced Vaibhav Jain before the court at the end of his remand period where Additional Session Judge Geetanjali Goel decided to send him into judicial custody.

The third accused Ankush Jain is already in judicial custody in the case. The Enforcement Directorate's case was represented by Advocate Zoheb Hossain and Advocate Naveen Kumar Matta.

According to the ED, Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain are among those who assisted the Delhi Minister in the money laundering case.

In this case, Satyendar Jain was arrested on 30 May 2022. Besides them, Naveen Jain and Siddharth Jain (Directors of Ram Prakash Jewellers Pvt Ltd), G S Matharoo (Chairman of Lala Sher Singh Jivan Vigyan Trust which runs Prudence Group of Schools), Yogesh Kumar Jain (Director in Ram Prakash Jewellers Pvt Ltd), father-in-law of Ankush Jain and Lala Sher Singh Jivan Vigyan Trust are also on ED radar for assisting Satyendar Jain, the ED informed.

The ED on June 6 seized 2.85 crore cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg from Satyendar Jain's aides during its day-long raid conducted at various places across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). The agency had also seized various incriminating documents and digital records during these raids.

The ED then said that the total movable assets were seized from "an unexplained source" and were "found to be secreted" in the raided premises.

The assets were seized during a search operation carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 at the premises of Satyendar Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and his accomplices and other persons who had either directly or indirectly assisted him or participated in the processes of money laundering.

ED investigation in the case has revealed that one accomplice of Lala Sher Singh Jivan Vigyan Trust had provided accommodation entries for the transfer of land from a company beneficially owned by Satyendar Jain to family members of accomplices in order to alienate the property and to frustrate the process of confiscation.

The ED had also initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of a First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 24 August 2017 under Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Satyendar Jain, Poonam Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain.

The CBI filed a chargesheet on 3 December 2018 against Satyendar Kumar Jain, Poonam Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain.

The chargesheet mentioned that Satyendar Jain, while holding the office as a Minister in the Government of Delhi, during the period from 14 February 14 to 31 May 2017, had acquired assets which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The CBI has accused Satyendar Kumar Jain and others of the commission of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Jain was arrested after the ED attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore, in April, owned by the companies named Akinchan Developers Pvt. Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 in connection with the disproportionate asset and money laundering case registered Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and others.