The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Patna Zonal Office on Monday (December 16, 2024) provisionally attached seven properties worth Rs 23.72 crore acquired by the associates of IAS officer Sanjeev Hans and his family members under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. (PMLA), 2002, in connection with a money laundering case.
These properties include three land parcels in Nagpur, one flat in Delhi and three flats in Jaipur, and were purchased in the names of close associates of Mr. Hans using proceeds of crime, the agency said in a statement.
ED conducted searches on December 3, 2024 at 13 locations in Delhi, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Jaipur, Nagpur.
Former Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Gulab Yadav and other associates are alleged to have helped Mr. Hans in money laundering. Both were arrested on October 18. Mr. Hans was picked up from Patna while Yadav was arrested from Delhi.
The ED investigation revealed that Mr. Hans earned money through corrupt practices during various postings in the Bihar government and on central deputation from 2018 to 2023.
In its investigation, the ED found shares of ₹ 60 crore in newly opened demat accounts of family members of close associates of Mr. Hans. 70 bank accounts with deposits of Rs 6 crore have also been frozen.
The total seizures in this case include gold jewelery and luxury watches worth ₹ 80 lakh and ₹ 65 lakh, seized from Mr Hans’s Patna and Delhi premises, and undisclosed amount of Rs 1.07 crore, 13 kg silver worth Rs 11 lakh and 1.5 kg gold worth Rs 1.25 crore and 20 lakhs in foreign exchange premises of his associates.
published – December 17, 2024 at 01:01 pm IST