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Land-for-jobs scam: Lalu, kin ‘consolidated’ their land, says ED charge sheet
The charge sheet filed by ED states that seven land parcels in Patna were transferred to Lalu's wife and daughter by the family members of the job candidates.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and his family members acquired at a discount, separate land parcels from candidates who were given jobs in the railways, with a purpose to “consolidate” the land already owned by the family to increase the size of their overall landholding and, therefore, its value in the real estate market, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed in its charge sheet filed earlier this month in the land-for-jobs money laundering probe.
Overall, seven land parcels in Patna were transferred at throwaway prices in the name of Lalu’s wife Rabri Devi and daughter Hema Yadav by the family members of the candidates or the candidates themselves who applied for and received jobs as Group D substitutes in railways, when Lalu headed the ministry of railways between 2004 and 2009.
Interestingly, some of those who transferred their land to the Lalu family in return for the jobs did so to people who worked for Rabri Devi as security guard and Gaushala (dairy) worker, and, they, in turn, transferred land to the family, the charge sheet explained.
A Delhi court last week took cognisance of the charge sheet, which names Rabri Devi, daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, along with others as accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The federal investigation agency seems to have stepped up the pace of its investigations in recent weeks. On Monday, it questioned Lalu in Patna and on Tuesday, it was the turn of his son Tejashwi Yadav.
READ | Land-for-jobs scam: ED questions Lalu for 10 hours; RJD stages stir
Neither Lalu nor Tejashwi has been named as an accused in this charge sheet. To be sure, agencies often file supplementary charge sheets as the investigation progresses.
“Illegal gratifications obtained by Lalu Prasad, the then railway minister, through his family members and associate in the form of land parcels in lieu of railway jobs are proceeds of crime (POC) derived out of criminal activity. The land parcels (which are POC) were acquired by the Yadav family members to consolidate the land holdings already in their possession. The POC were acquired in the name of Rabri Devi, Misa Bharti, Hema Yadav and company AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd ( in which the family holds ownership),” the ED charge sheet, seen by HT, said.
The land parcels received from the candidates were adjacent to a parcel of land bought by Rabri Devi in 1991, the charge sheet said. “It is not a simple case of accepting illegal gratification in the form of separate land parcels but a larger design to consolidate land holdings already in the name of accused persons to boost profits in the real estate market,” it added.
The candidates or their family members, in return for the jobs, transferred two land parcels to Rabri Devi. “Another two land parcels were purchased by two other individuals, Hridyanand Chaudhary and Lalan Chaudhary (who worked in Rabri Devi’s Gaushala), and subsequently both of them transferred their land parcels to Hema Yadav through gift deeds. All four land parcels were situated adjacent to the land bought by Rabri (Devi) in 1991. This was done to increase the size of landholding and increase the price and attractiveness/desirability of the now consolidated land parcels in the real estate market,” the charge sheet added.
Referring to AK Infosystems, registered at D-1088, New Friends Colony, Delhi, which is also used by Tejashwi Yadav as his residence in the Capital, the ED charge sheet said, it “acted as a tool for Lalu Prasad Yadav to hold on to ill-gotten wealth without being detected by authorities”.
READ | Land-for-jobs scam: ED interrogates Tejashwi; RJD attacks Centre
By acquiring AK Infosystems in 2014, in which Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav hold 85% and 15%, respectively, the family also acquired the assets of the company, ED said.
The federal agency further claimed that after the Income Tax department initiated proceedings against the Yadavs in 2017, targeting their proxy holdings, the family’s chartered accountant Suman Kumar Nayak met Rabri Devi in Patna and “advised the family to regularise the affairs of all the companies”.
“The motive was to avoid detection by authorities and to project things in a way which add tinge of legality to the past transactions/asset acquisition of the companies and to cover the loopholes left during handing over the company with intention to avoid the inquiries from various agencies,” the charge sheet said.
The companies named in the charge sheet, AK Infosystems and A B Exports Pvt Ltd, have been termed shell companies by ED, which claimed that they received proceeds of crime.
ED’s case is that the appointment of substitutes in Group-D jobs in Indian Railways in 2004-09 was in violation of existing procedure and that the candidates, directly or through their immediate family members, sold land to the family members of Lalu Prasad at discounted rates of up to one-fourth to one-fifth of prevailing market rates.
