ED charges Satyendar Jain, 13 others in DJB money laundering case

The illegal commission was routed through banking channels using bogus invoices and advances to conceal the payments, while additional amounts were moved in cash through hawala networks.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain and 13 others in connection with a money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in awarding tenders for the augmentation and upgrade of sewage treatment plants (STPs) of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the agency said on Monday.

The four tenders, valued at ₹1,943 crore, were awarded to various joint venture (JV) entities in October 2022. (HT archive)

Besides Jain, who was the water minister in 2022 when the alleged irregularities took place, the agency has also named Udit Prakash Rai (former chief executive officer of DJB), Ajay Gupta (former DJB member), Satish Chandra Vashishth (former chief engineer), and several private individuals and entities in its charge sheet filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED probe pertains to tenders awarded for the augmentation and upgrade of STPs in Pappankala, Nilothi (Package 1), Najafgarh, Keshopur (Package 2), Coronation Pillar, Narela and Rohini (Package 3), and Kondli (Package 4).

The four tenders, valued at ₹1,943 crore, were awarded to various joint venture (JV) entities in October 2022.

The ED, in a statement on Monday, said its probe was based on a first information report (FIR) filed by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi against Euroteck Environmental Pvt Ltd (EEPL) and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, alleging irregularities in the DJB’s award of STP tenders.

“It is revealed that Rajakumar Kurra, managing director of EEPL, got the terms and conditions of the DJB tender manipulated through DJB officials and private persons, including Nagendra Yadav, making the tender restrictive to the usage of ‘IFAS technology with fixed media’, thereby enabling EEPL to become the sole supplier of technology in the tender. Kurra and his associates paid illegal commissions (bribes) of ₹6.73 crore through banking channels or cash, which is nothing but proceeds of crime,” the agency said.

The illegal commission was routed through banking channels using bogus invoices and advances to conceal the payments, while additional amounts were moved in cash through hawala networks. As a result, undue profits amounting to ₹9.96 crore accrued to EEPL, which are being treated as proceeds of crime under PMLA, the agency added.

According to the ED, the probe concluded that Jain, Rai, Gupta, Vashishth, EEPL, Kurra and others “are involved in or have assisted in the generation, acquisition, concealment, possession and use of total proceeds of crime to the tune of ₹17.70 crore (approximately), and thus committed the offence of money laundering.”

The enforcement agency, on December 4, has also provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth ₹15.36 crore belonging to various individuals named in the charge sheet.

Jain is being investigated in other cases as well, including a 2022 ED case pertaining to alleged hawala transactions and possession of disproportionate assets, in which he was arrested that year. Earlier this year, the agency also booked him in connection with alleged irregularities in classroom construction in the national capital.

Responding to the charge-sheet, the AAP accused the BJP-led central and Delhi governments of “vindictive politics”, saying agencies such as the ED, CBI and ACB have repeatedly filed cases that “collapse in court” and still seek extensions because “they cannot prove anything”.

The party said the ED’s own statement undermines the case, as it cites alleged irregularities from October 2022 even though Satyendar Jain was already in ED custody and a minister without portfolio since May 2022.

“The BJP knows in its heart that its only real opposition is the AAP. We will fight these cases in the courts and will emerge victorious," AAP said in a statement on Monday evening.