In a setback to AAP leader Satyendar Jain, a city court on Thursday denied bail to him in two others in a money laundering case, saying he was "prima facie" involved in concealing the "proceeds of crime". Special judge Vikas Dhull also rejected bail to co-accused Vaibhav and Ankush Jain in the case.
The court said "prima facie" Jain was "actually involved in concealing the proceeds of crime by giving cash to the Kolkata-based entry operators and thereafter, bringing the cash into three companies... against the sale of shares to show that income of these three companies was untainted one." "By this process, the proceeds of crime to the tune of 1/3rd of Rs 4.61 crore has been laundered.
Apart from that, Jain has also used the same modus operandi to convert his proceeds of crime of Rs 15 lakh by receiving accommodation entries from Kolkata-based entry operators in his company by the name of J J Ideal Estate Pvt Ltd," the court noted.
It said that Jain had knowingly done such activity to obliterate the tracing of the source of ill-gotten money and accordingly the proceeds of crime was layered through Kolkata-based entry operators in a way that its source was difficult to decipher.
"Hence, applicant/accused Satyendar Kumar Jain has prima facie indulged in the offence of money laundering of more than Rs 1 crore," the judge said. He further said money laundering was a "serious economic offence". "Hence, Jain is not entitled to the benefit of bail...Hence, application of Jain is dismissed," the judge said.
The judge further said whether Jain was the beneficial owner of the three accused companies or not, or whether there was any shareholding in the said companies, was not germane for calculating the proceeds of crime or for finding out his involvement in the offence.
"The money which had come into the account of three companies during the check period was not the income of the companies arising from any lawful business but in reality the same was the accommodation entries obtained by Jain and other co-accused persons by providing cash to the Kolkata based entry operators," he said. The amount lying in the accounts of these three companies was in fact the amount belonging to Jain and co-accused Vaibhav Jain and Ankush Jain, the court noted.
It observed that the cash which was provided by Jain the two co accused was to the tune of Rs 4.61 crore during the check period. The court said that the amount of Rs 4.61 crore was not notional or assumptive but was established on record by the statement of two Kolkata based entry operator.
On Wednesday, Dhull had deferred passing the order, noting that even though Jain’s order was ready, the orders for the other two accused were yet to be finalised.
Jain was arrested on May 30 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is currently lodged in the Tihar Jail. In September, when the bail hearing of all the accused was at the final stage, the ED filed an application seeking transfer of the case from the court of special judge Geetanjali Goel to a new judge while raising an apprehension of bias.
On April 5 this year, the ED, on the basis of its investigation into the money laundering aspect, provisionally attached immovable properties worth ?4.81 crore belonging to M/s Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd, M/s Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, M/s Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, M/s Manglayatan Projects Pvt Ltd, M/s JJ Ideal Estate Pvt Ltd, and other persons under the PMLA.