The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in connection with a money laundering case, officials said, adding that the AAP leader is being questioned by the probe agency at its office here in Janpath.
Jain will be presented at the Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday. The ED is likely to seek his custodial remand to confront him with some documents and statements.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was placed under arrest by the ED on Monday evening.
The ED had attached properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to Jain’s relatives in April this year.
The immovable properties belonging to different firms owned by Swati Jain, Sushila Jain, and Indu Jain – relatives of Satyendar Jain, were attached.
Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, Manglayatan Projects Pvt Ltd, and JJ Ideal Estate Pvt. Ltd were the firms against which action was taken, a source said.
The ED initiated the money-laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation, against Jain and others under section 109 of IPC read with sections 13(2) and 13(1) (e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The ED learnt during the investigation that during 2015-16, when Jain was a public servant, the companies owned and controlled by him received accommodation entries to the tune of Rs 4.81 crore from shell companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through the Hawala route.
These amounts were utilised for the direct purchase of land or for the repayment of loans taken for the purchase of agricultural land in and around Delhi.
Accordingly, immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore in the form of land belonging to the accused and their companies under section 5 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act – PMLA, said an ED official.