Rs 2.85 crore, gold coins found after raids against Delhi minister Satyendar Jain

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

Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain (Photo | PTI)

NEW DELHI: "Unexplained" cash of Rs 2. 85 crore and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg were seized after raids were conducted at the premises of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain and his alleged associates as part of a money laundering probe against him, the ED said Tuesday.

During the raid, the ED also seized 'various incriminating documents', 'digital records'. 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.

The ED said those raided on Monday were "either directly or indirectly assisted" the minister in the process of money laundering. The cash and coins were "unexplained" and were kept in a "secret" place, it said in a statement.

Besides Satyendar's, the ED conducted raids at the premises of accomplices and other persons who had either directly or indirectly assisted him or participated in the processes of money laundering. The properties raided belong to Ankush Jain, 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, stated a statement issued by the economic intelligence agency on Tuesday.

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

The AAP has strongly been defending Satyendar since his arrest. On Tuesday also, the party said that the reports on raids and recovery are fabricated and part of a continuous witch-hunt campaign against it. “At this time, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) is after the Aam Aadmi Party with full force especially Delhi and Punjab governments. Lies after lies. You have might of all the agencies but God is with us,” Delhi chief minister Arvind Kerjiwal tweeted.

The ED had initiated the money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in August 2017 against Satyendar Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and other family members -- Ajit Prasad Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain, Vaibhav Jain, Ajit Prasad Jain and Ankush Jain.

The CBI filed a chargesheet in the case in December 2018 wherein it had been stated that Satyendar Jain while holding the office as a minister in the Delhi Government between February 2015 and May 2017 had acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Earlier, ED had provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to companies beneficially owned and controlled by Satyendar Kumar Jain in March this year. On May 39, ED has arrested Satyendar Kumar Jain under PMLA, 2002 and he is presently in ED custody.