In a setback to AAP government, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday for second consecutive day in an alleged corruption case. The minister, who is allegedly accused of money laundering of around Rs 17 crore through shell companies and then using that money to buy agricultural land in Delhi, reached at the agency headquarters at 2 pm and was grilled till late evening.

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He was questioned in the alleged case of money laundering wherein he had used his official position for financial gain.

The agency had registered a preliminary inquiry against Jain in the matter. A preliminary enquiry is the first step by the CBI to gather information about the allegations. The agency had then said that they would question Jain again on the matter.

The modus operandi was such. Agency sources said that companies controlled by Jain had received Rs 16.39 crore from 56 shell firms belonging to three hawala operators – Jivendra Mishra, Abhishek Chokhani and Rajendra Bansal. All of the three hawala operators were based in Kolkata.

These sources added that a scrutiny of the IT returns of four companies — Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd, Mangalyaatan Projects Pvt Ltd and Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd — all owned by Jain, revealed that money-laundering had been happening in these companies since 2010.

The minister, who is a close confidante of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has maintained that he had nothing to do with the hawala operators.

The role of the minister first came to light during the interrogation of two hawala operators — Mishra and Bansal. On January 6 this year, DNA carried an exclusive report on the alleged illegal transactions of the minister. The report was filed on the basis of the status report filed by the I-T department and submitted to the CBI for further investigation.