The Enforcement Directorate seized a farmhouse belonging to Misa Bharti, the daughter of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad, and her husband Shailesh Kumar after the agency received an order of possession from the adjudicating authority.
Bharti and her husband were accused in a money laundering case by a special court in Delhi on 8 February which pronounced the judgment after taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate. The court has directed all of the accused to appear before it on 5 March.
A farmhouse in Delhi belonging to the couple was also attached by the ED in September 2017 under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Seeking the continuation of attachment of the asset, authorities said that the farmhouse is reportedly “involved” in money laundering.
The farmhouse is located on a 12-bigha land in south Delhi’s Bijwasan area.
“Considering the material (filed) in the original complaint (by the Enforcement Directorate)…I find the property provisionally attached is involved in money laundering.
“I, therefore, hereby confirm the attachment of the property…and order that the said attachment shall continue during the pendency of the proceedings related to the offence under the PMLA before a court and become final after an order of confiscation is passed by the special court,” the recent order issued by Member (Law) of the Adjudicating Authority of the PMLA, Tushar V Shah, said.
“The property is held in the name of M/S Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt Ltd,” the central probe agency had said.
The agency had said that its investigation found that the farmhouse was purchased “using Rs 1.2 crore involved in money laundering in the year 2008-09”.
The ED is probing Misa Bharti, an RJD MP in the Rajya Sabha, and her husband as part of its criminal probe in a Rs 8,000 crore alleged money laundering case involving shell or bogus companies and two Delhi-based alleged entry operators Surendra Jain and Virendra Jain.
Jains were brothers and had been arrested by the ED in this case in the past. An accountant, Rajesh Agrawal, who mediated and provided a cash amount of Rs 90 lakh to the Jain brothers in advance, has also been arrested.
One of the firms that the Jain brothers dealt with was Mishail Printers and Packers Pvt Ltd. Bharti and her husband had been directors of this firm in the past.
The company, Mishail Packers and Printers, was registered at the address 25, Tuglak Road, New Delhi till the shares were bought by Misa Bharti.
It was only during the year 2009-10 that the address was changed to farm no 26 Palam Farms, VPO Bijwasan, New Delhi. Bharti and Kumar were the directors of the company during the relevant period, the ED had claimed.
The couple have been interrogated and their statements recorded by the ED.
The agency said the Jain brothers, accountant Agrawal and the daughter and the son-in-law of the former Bihar chief minister were the key persons behind the money laundering of Rs 1.20 crore.
The ED had also conducted raids at the farm house and few other locations linked to Misa Bharti, her husband and others in July last year.
The accused can appeal against this order, issued by the authority, before the Appellate Tribunal of the Act.
(With PTI inputs.)