The Enforcement Directorate on Monday, 2 April, 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 was recorded by the investigating officer of the case.
He was grilled for over three hours, they said.
The PMLA case was registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in August 2017 on the basis of a CBI FIR.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) complaint said that Jain could not explain the source of funds received by four companies in which he was a shareholder.
The CBI had registered a case against him, his wife, and four others on charges of money laundering.
The CBI had questioned 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 Private Limited in 2015-16.
They had alleged that Jain and his wife were holders of one-third of the shares in these companies during the mentioned period.
During CBI questioning, the minister and his wife could not explain the source of Rs 1.62 crore, approximately one-third of the funds received by the companies during 2015-17, the CBI had said.
The CBI has alleged that Jain had control over these companies, either in the form of being one of the directors, or by holding one-third of shares of these companies, in his name or in the names of his family members or others.
The probe agency had also claimed that these were shell firms used for parking money in the form of investments in equity shares, in connivance with Kolkata-based shell companies.
This apart, before becoming a public servant, he was allegedly involved in laundering Rs 11.78 crore during 2010-12 through these companies, as well as other firms also based in New Delhi.CBI
The funds were allegedly used to purchase over 200 bighas of land in Auchandi, Bawana, Karala, and Mohammed Mazvi villages in Delhi between 2010-16, CBI sources had said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), however, had refuted the CBI’s allegations and said that reports of Jain’s involvement in shell companies and benami land deals were “baseless”.
Jain, also the Minister for Home, PWD, Industries and Urban Development, is an MLA from the Shakur Basti constituency.
The ED probe will focus on whether Jain and the other accused in the case created illegal assets by laundering the alleged tainted funds.
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