Arrested Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain Gets No Relief, ED Custody Extended

The Enforcement Directorate got further custody of Delhi Health Minister Jain in an alleged money laundering case

AAP leader and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Satyendar Jain) 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday, 9 June, got further custody of Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain till 13 June, in a money laundering case connected to alleged hawala transactions with regard to a Kolkata-based company.

Jain was arrested by the ED in connection with the case on 30 May, and was presented before a Delhi court on Thursday, as his ED custody had been slated to end.

The central agency had sought the extension of his remand as it had seized Rs 2.82 crore of cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg from the premises of the minister and his aides during day-long raids on Monday.

Soon after he was produced in court, Jain was taken to the hospital as he was not feeling well.

"Sleep apnea was one of the problems that he (Satyendar Jain) was facing since he recovered from COVID-19. When he came out of the court, he was not feeling well and was later sent to a hospital," his lawyer was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The Raids

The ED said that those raided "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. Various incriminating documents and digital records were also recovered, the agency said.

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), GS 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.

The Case Against Satyendar Jain

The ED, in April this year, had provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to companies allegedly linked to Jain and his relatives under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The properties belonging to Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, Manglayatan Projects Pvt Ltd, JJ Ideal Estate Pvt Ltd, and others were attached in the case.

The ED said that its probe had revealed that during the period from 2015-16, the companies owned and controlled by Jain received accommodation entries of nearly Rs 4.81 crore from shell companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through the "hawala route."

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