E-Paper
ED files charge sheet against Sanjay Prakash Rai accused of conning people
Sanjay Prakash Rai was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in April this year after which ED launched a money laundering probe against him
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against alleged conman Sanjay Prakash Rai alias Sanjay Sherpuria who was accused of cheating people of crores of rupees by faking access to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Sanjay Prakash Rai was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in April this year after which ED launched a money laundering probe against him. Search operations were conducted at 42 locations in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Ghazipur, Pune and Gandhidham by the federal agency.
ED formally placed Rai under arrest on June 3 and has attached assets worth ₹14.58 crore belonging to Rai and his family.
A statement by ED on Wednesday said the agency filed the charge sheet against him on July 28 in Patiala House court in Delhi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The court took cognisance of the charge sheet on July 31.
The probe revealed that Sanjay Prakash Rai allegedly duped people by portraying himself to be close to top politicians and bureaucrats. ED statement said
Rai is accused of duping businessman Gaurav Dalmia and his family into paying ₹12 crore, promising to help them in an ongoing ED investigation.
The agency said Rai set up a not-for-profit company (Youth Rural Entrepreneur Foundation, or YREF) under the Companies Act on February 16, 2019, that was used to receive money that he cheated others into paying.
ED said that out of the ₹12 crore, ₹6 crore was received in January 2023 in YREF’s bank from Dalmia Family Office Trust, wherein Gaurav Dalmia is a trustee.
The agency said the YREF’s registered address was in village Karaila, Post Saheri, Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh but its actual operational activities were being done from House No 1, Delhi Riding Club, Safdarjung Road, New Delhi which is also the residential address of Rai. Although Rai does not hold any official position in YREF, he controls the day-to-day affairs of the company and is the ultimate beneficiary, the agency said.
“The payment of ₹6 crore was received by Rai under the guise of donation in YREF from Dalmia Family Office Trust. Further, Rai forged documents in respect of payments of ₹6 crore received from Dalmia Family Office Trust to conceal the true nature of transactions. In addition to ₹6 crore received in the account of Youth Rural Entrepreneur Foundation, a sum of ₹6 crore were received in cash by Rai from Gaurav Dalmia which were subsequently layered and placed in the bank accounts of his sons - Yash Sanjay Prakash Rai and Sujal Sanjay Prakash Rai in the form of accommodation entries from certain Delhi based jewelers in the garb of sale of old jewellery,” ED said.
ED further alleged that Rai cheated several others and duped them of ₹2.51 crore. For instance, he is accused of cheating Mohit Singh, managing director of Shipra Estate Ltd, of ₹1 crore by making false promises and claiming close association with senior politicians and bureaucrats.
“The payment of ₹1 crore were received in the bank account of Youth Rural Entrepreneur Foundation under the garb of donation. Rai has also duped Naveen Kumar Malhotra, Director of Bindu Fashion Pvt Ltd to the tune of ₹1 crore and Sunil Chand Goyal, Director of Metadesign Solution Pvt Ltd to the tune of ₹51,50,000 by making false promises and impressing them by portraying himself as an influencer, a social worker and associated with PMO,” the agency said.
