The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday attached properties valued at ₹7.44 crore, allegedly controlled by companies associated with former Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Kumar Jain. The action was executed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of money laundering.
The ED’s probe originates from a 2017 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case, which accused Jain of amassing disproportionate assets between February 2015 and May 2017 while serving as a minister in the AAP-led Delhi government. The CBI filed a chargesheet in December 2018 against Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and others, detailing the allegations.
Previously, in March 2022, the ED had attached assets worth ₹4.81 crore in the same case and filed a prosecution complaint, which was acknowledged by a Delhi court. With the latest attachment of ₹7.44 crore, the total value of seized assets now stands at ₹12.25 crore, which the ED claims represents the full extent of the disproportionate assets allegedly acquired by Jain.
According to the ED, following the demonetisation of currency in November 2016, Satyendar Jain’s close associates, Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain, deposited ₹7.44 crore in cash as advance tax under the Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS). They declared assets worth ₹16.53 crore in the names of four companies, which authorities later determined were beneficially owned and controlled by Satyendar Jain.
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Both the Income Tax Department and the Delhi High Court ruled that Ankush Jain and Vaibhav Jain were benami holders acting on behalf of Satyendar Jain, a finding that was upheld by the Supreme Court after dismissing their appeals.
The ED shared its findings with the CBI, which subsequently filed a supplementary chargesheet, increasing the value of disproportionate assets attributed to Jain. The ED has indicated that it will soon file a supplementary prosecution complaint in the case. The trial is currently underway at the Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi.
Satyendar Jain was arrested by the ED on May 30, 2022, on charges of laundering money through four shell companies allegedly linked to him. After spending two years in custody, he was granted bail by a Delhi court.
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