ED seizes Rs 2.8 cr cash, 133 gold coins after raids against Satyendar Jain

The cash and coins were 'unexplained' and were kept in a 'secret' place, ED said in a statement

The ED on Tuesday said Rs 2.85 crore cash and 133 gold coins were seized after raids at the premises of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain and his alleged associates as part of a money laundering probe against them but the AAP termed the seizure as "lie" and accused the agency of trying to implicate him in a false case at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said those raided on Monday "either directly or indirectly assisted (the minister) or participated in the process of money laundering".

The cash and coins were "unexplained" and were kept in a "secret" place, it said in a statement.

The agency, however, did not give a breakup of what was seized from which location.

Jain, 57, was arrested on May 30 under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is in ED custody till June 9.

The AAP, however, claimed that the ED sleuths did not find any proof against Jain at his residence, and rumours were spread about recovery of "unexplained" cash and gold.

It also accused the agency of falsely linking the money and assets of "various people" with Jain showing them as his associates to somehow implicate in the case.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to dub the charges against Jain as "lie".

"At this time, the prime minister is after the Aam Aadmi Party with all his power, especially the governments of Delhi and Punjab. Lie after lie, lie after lie," he tweeted in Hindi.

"You (PM) have the power of all the agencies but God is with us," he added.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in a tweet claimed that "only Rs 2.79 lakh was found in Jain's home" and that the BJP was putting false allegations on his colleague by linking anyone with him.

AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the ED has resorted to making twisted and false claims about its finding during raids to save its face and defame Jain as the agency sleuths got nothing incriminating against him while carrying out search and seizure procedure at his residence.

"The ED's raid at Satyendar Jain's residence was a complete failure. Only Rs 2.79 Lakh were found by the ED, which could not be seized as every penny was accounted for," he told reporters and showed a copy of the agency's seizure memo.

The ED's seizure memo is a clean cheat given by the agency to Jain, he added.

The Delhi units of the BJP and the Congress also slammed the Kejriwal government over ED recoveries of gold and cash and claimed more heads will roll in the coming days.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said that the ED should also probe Kejriwal.

"Kejriwal had given a clean chit to Jain after he was arrested by ED in the money laundering case which means he knows what are the links," Khurana said.

The BJP also asked Kejriwal what was his compulsion for not seeking Jain's resignation as minister so far.

The ED had conducted searches at about 7 premises, including that of a jeweller, in Delhi and some neighbouring locations on Monday.

Jain, a minister without portfolio in the Arvind Kejriwal government, is being probed by the federal agency under the PMLA on charges of alleged hawala dealings.

BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who was removed from AAP after alleging in 2017 that he had seen Jain giving Rs 2 crore to Kejriwal, took a dig at the AAP chief after the ED recoveries.

"Kejriwal had demanded Padma Vibhushan for Jain. Kejriwal is bound to give clean chit to Jain because he is partner in crime," Mishra alleged.

Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar claimed that it is "quite clear" that Jain was involved in a major corruption.

"Gradually many more names from the AAP will come up in this graft case. The next person to face the ED will be Manish Sisodia," he said.

Kejriwal recently had defended Jain as a "hardcore honest and patriot" person who was being framed in a "false case" and hoped the minister will come out clean after the ED probe.

The agency said those raided include Jain's wife Poonam Jain, his business associates Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain, 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.

"Lala Sher Singh Jivan Vigyan Trust had provided accommodation entries for transfer of land from company beneficially owned by Satyendar Kumar Jain to family members of accomplices in order to alienate the property and to frustrate the process of confiscation," the ED said.

It said "incriminating documents and digital records" were seized during the raids.

"Cash amounting to Rs 2.85 crore and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg in total from unexplained source were found to be secreted in the said premises and were seized under PMLA," it said.

In April, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 4.81 crore of Jain's family and companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by him as part of the probe.

In a statement issued then, the ED had said a provisional order was brought out under the PMLA to "attach immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to Akinchan Developers Pvt. Ltd., Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, Paryas Infosolutions Pvt. Ltd., Manglayatan Projects Pvt. Ltd., J.J. Ideal Estate Pvt. Ltd., Swati Jain, wife of Vaibhav Jain, Sushila Jain, wife of Ajit Prasad Jain, and Indu Jain, wife of Sunil Jain."

The probe found that "during the period 2015-16, when Satyendar Kumar Jain was a public servant, the companies beneficially owned and controlled by him received accommodation entries to the tune of Rs 4.81 crore from shell (paper) companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through the hawala route".

"These amounts were utilised for direct purchase of land or for repayment of loan taken for the purchase of agricultural land in and around Delhi," the ED said.

The named persons in the attachment order are associates and family members of Jain, officials had said.

The money laundering case against the AAP minister stems from an August 2017 FIR filed by the CBI against him and others on charges of alleged possession of disproportionate assets (DA).

A charge sheet was filed by the CBI in December, 2018 stating that the alleged DA was to the tune of Rs 1.47 crore, about 217 per cent more than his known sources of income, during 2015-17.

The Income Tax Department too had probed these transactions and had issued an order attaching "benami assets" allegedly linked to Jain.