ED probes ₹98.39 lakh in bookie Anil Jaisinghani’s bank account

Bookie Anil Jaisinghani was arrested by the Ahmedabad unit of the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a 2015 money-laundering case after he failed to explain the source of more than INR98.39 lakh ($131,000) found in one of his bank accounts. The amount was mentioned in Jaisinghani?s income tax returns for 2013-14, but he could not account for its source during questioning on 8 April. Jaisinghani was arrested under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after the Gujarat high court ordered that he be remanded in ED custody for four days.

The Ahmedabad unit of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), as part of its probe in a 2015 money-laundering case, found that bookie Anil Jaisinghani had allegedly received more than ₹98.39 lakh in one of his bank accounts, agency sources said.

Kalyan, India - March 16, 2023: Anil Jaisinghani and Akshan Anil Jaisinghani - The Malabar Hill police reached the residence of Aniksha Jaisinghani around 8 am, after an interrogation of about 6 hours she was taken to Mumbai, while her brother Akshan who was also present complained of illness followed by which he was taken to a nearby hospital, in Kalyan, India, on Thursday, March 16, 2023. (Photo by Pramod Tambe/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

The amount was mentioned in Jaisinghani’s income tax returns for 2013-14 but he could not explain its source during his interrogation on April 8, the agency told the Gujarat high court on April 17 and added that he was then arrested.

“The applicant (the ED) says that during the course of the statement under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the accused was asked to provide details of his business activities, source of income, and his involvement in betting activities and his role in various other criminal cases. He was also asked about the source of a cash deposit in the bank account which is a gross receipt of ₹98,39,172 as reflected in his income tax returns of the 2013-14 assessment year, but he evaded the replies,” the HC order said, which sent Jaisinghani to the ED custody for four days.

“And thus, owing to his non-cooperation he was arrested under section 19 of the PMLA at Ahmedabad,” the order added.

The agency on April 7 took Jaisinghani to Ahmedabad after receiving his custody from the Taloja central prison authority. He was lodged there in an extortion case being probed by the Mumbai police.

The agency had on March 19, 2015, raided a Vadodara farmhouse on suspicions that it was the hub of “a largescale hawala racket in international cricket through a United Kingdom-based website, www.Betfair.com, in contravention of the Foreign Exchange Management Act”, an ED officer said.

Witnesses alleged that Jaisinghani was the Mumbai-based partner of a key bookie. Later, the ED registered a money-laundering case to identify the proceeds of crime and its recipients, the officer said.

In the 2015 case, a witness had alleged that “he used to take the line for betting from one Surendra Mandi who operates the book, in the name of ‘Mandi’, and that he had a Mumbai-based partner, Anil Jaisinghani”, the ED officer said.

During investigation, another bookie alleged that Jaisinghani used to receive commission from different bookies, including him, for referring clients, the official said, quoting the agency’s submissions to the HC.

Meanwhile, the agency has identified several assets of Jaisinghani that are valued at over ₹100 crore for provisional attachment in case their status as proceeds of crime gets confirmed.