Satyendar Jain is visualiser, conceptualiser and executor of entire money laundering operation: Delhi High Court in order denying bail

Former Delhi cabinet minister Satyendar Jain is the "conceptualizer, visualizer and executor" of the entire operation through which money has allegedly been laundered, the Delhi High Court observed on Thursday. .While denying bail to Jain in the money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said that Satyendar Jain or his family was directly or indirectly controlling the companies which were used to convert the proceeds of crime. "The testimony of Mr. Pankul Aggarwal shows the total control of Satyendar Kumar Jain on M/s. J.J. Ideal Estate Pvt. Ltd. Similarly, the testimony of Rajender Bansal, Jivendra Mishra, Ashish Chokhani and J.P. Mohta shows that Satyendar Kumar Jain is the conceptualizer, visualizer and executor of the entire operation and his being aided and abated by Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain," the Court noted. Both Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain were also denied bail by the High Court. .In a detailed order, the Court further observed that the investments in these firms were being made by people at the instance of Satyendar Jain as reflected from several statements."The plea of Satyendar Kumar Jain that he was not found in physical possession of any property needs to be rejected out-rightly as for the offence of money laundering the physical possession of proceeds of crime is not necessary. Similarly, the fact that shares so acquired were transferred back to Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain will also make no difference as it may again be done to conceal the proceeds of crime or projected as a untainted money," the Court said. .The Court also held that Jain is a very influential person who can tamper with the evidence. "The petitioner Satyendar Kumar Jain is an influential person and has a potential to tamper with the evidence as indicated by his conduct during the custody."The Court finally held that Jain does not satisfy the twin conditions as provided under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is, therefore, not entitled to bail. .Satyendar Jain has been behind bars since May 2022 when he was arrested by the ED.The trial court had rejected his bail plea on November 17, 2022. He challenged the order before the High Court on December 1, 2022..The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had initially registered a case under Sections 13(2) (criminal misconduct by public servant) read with 13(e) (disproportionate assets) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Jain.The case was registered on the allegation that Jain had acquired movable properties in the name of various persons between 2015 and 2017 which he could not satisfactorily account for.Later, the ED also registered a case and alleged several companies beneficially owned and controlled by him received accommodation entries amounting to ₹4.81 crore from shell companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through a hawala route..Senior Advocate N Hariharan along with advocates Vivek Jain, Vaibhav Yadav, Rajat Jain, Prateek Bhallam, Varun Deswal, Punya Rekha Angara, Sharian Mukherji and Mohammad Pasim appeared for Satyendar Jain.Advocates Dr Sushil Kumar Gupta, Sunita Gupta, Sakshit Bhardwaj, Aakriti Goyal and Molly Sharma appeared for Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju along with advocates Zoheb Hossain, Vivek Gurnani, Siddhartha Kaushik, Anshuman Singh, Gaurav Saini and Navneet Aggarwal appeared for the ED. .[Read Order]