NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at 11 locations in Jhansi, Lucknow and other parts of Uttar Pradesh as part of a money laundering probe against former Samajwadi Party MLA Deep Narayan Singh Yadav.
The searches were carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the agency said on Thursday.
The ED launched its investigation based on an FIR registered by the Uttar Pradesh Vigilance Department, which alleged that Yadav, a former MLA from the Garautha constituency in Jhansi, had amassed disproportionate assets worth about Rs 23.02 crore beyond his known sources of income.
According to the agency, more than 60 criminal cases have been registered against Yadav across Jhansi and other districts of Uttar Pradesh. These include cases related to dacoity, attempted murder, extortion, attempted culpable homicide, criminal breach of trust, cheating and forgery.
The ED alleged that Yadav generated proceeds of crime through criminal activities and by misusing his political influence. It claimed he created a network of companies, including shell entities, to layer and project the illicit funds as legitimate assets.
The agency further alleged that several of these entities were controlled by Yadav, his family members and close associates, while movable and immovable assets were acquired in the names of associates and distant relatives to conceal the origin of the funds.
During the searches, the ED seized records related to inter-company transactions, third-party agreements, suspicious financial transactions and documents linked to luxury assets held by business entities, family members and associates.
The agency also claimed that some of the companies existed only on paper with no genuine business activity and recovered documents related to suspected benami properties and the alleged layering of proceeds of crime.