ED grills Jain in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday questioned Delhi health and power minister Satyendar Jain in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others. Officials said Jain was summoned under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and his statement will be recorded by the investigating officer of the case.

The PMLA case was registered by the ED last year in August on the basis of a CBI FIR. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) complaint had said Jain could not explain the source of funds received by four companies in which he was a shareholder. It registered a case against him, his wife and four others on charges of money laundering. The CBI has grilled him in the case earlier. CBI sources had said that Rs 4.63 crore was allegedly received through Prayas Info Solutions, Akinchan Developers, Managalyatan Projects and Indo-metal Impex Pvt Limited in 2015-16. They had said Jain and his wife were allegedly holders of one-third of the shares in these companies during the period.

During CBI questioning, the minister and his wife could not explain the source of Rs 1.62 crore, approximately onethird of the funds received by the companies during 2015-17, they had said. The CBI alleged that Jain had control over these companies either in the form of being one of the directors and by holding one-third of shares of these companies in his name or in the names of his family members or others. CBI also claimed that these shell firms used to park money in form of investments in equity shares in connivance with Kolkata-based shell companies.