Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain sent to ED custody till June 9

New Delhi, May 31: Delhi minister Satyendra Jain was sent to Enforcement Directorate's custody till June 9 by a court here on Tuesday for questioning in a money laundering case.

Special Judge Geetanjali Goel remanded Jain in ED's custody, noting that his custodial interrogation was required to unearth the larger conspiracy.

The ED had on Monday arrested the Delhi health minister under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED has accused Satyendra Jain of possessing of "disproportionate assets."

Jain was involved a hawala transaction with a Kolkata based firm in 2015-16.

A money laundering case had been registered by the ED based on a FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2017 on the alleged possession of disproportionate assets.

The ED had said last month that assets worth Rs 4.81 crore of Jain's family and companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by him were provisionally attached as part of a money laundering probe against him.

In a statement issued then, the ED had said it issued a provisional order under the PMLA to "attach immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to Akinchan Developers Pvt. Ltd., Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, Paryas Infosolutions Pvt. Ltd., Manglayatan Projects Pvt. Ltd., J.J. Ideal Estate Pvt. Ltd., Swati Jain, wife of Vaibhav Jain, Sushila Jain, wife of Ajit Prasad Jain, and Indu Jain, wife of Sunil Jain."

The probe found that "during the period 2015-16, when Satyendar Kumar Jain was a public servant, the companies beneficially owned and controlled by him received accommodation entries to the tune of Rs 4.81 crore from shell (paper) companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through the hawala route."

The money laundering case against the AAP minister stems from an August 2017 FIR filed by the CBI against him and others on charges of alleged possession of disproportionate assets. The income tax department too had probed these transactions and had issued an order attaching "benami assets" allegedly linked to Jain.

Satyendar Jain, 57, is the minister for health, industries, power, home, urban development and water in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi.