The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against an accused who cheated several persons by claiming to be close to senior politicians and bureaucrats. The agency had earlier issued orders for freezing and attaching 19 properties worth over ₹14.54 crore in the case.
The accused has been identified as Sanjay Prakash Rai, against whom the money laundering probe is being conducted by the agency on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Lucknow Police in Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested in June this year.
During the probe, the ED has searched 42 locations in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Ghazipur, Pune and Gandhidham. The agency alleged that Mr. Rai duped businessman Gaurav Dalmia and his family of ₹12 crore by claiming that the businessman was under the ED radar and he would help him evade arrest by the ED, said the agency.
Of the total amount, ₹6 crore was received in the bank account of Youth Rural Entrepreneur Foundation (YREF) in January 2023 from Dalmia Family Office Trust, in which Mr. Dalmia is a trustee. As alleged, Mr. Rai had incorporated YREF as a not-for-profit company on February 16, 2019.
The registered address of YREF is Karaila village in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. However, as alleged, it was actually being operated from the Safdarjung Road residential premises of Mr. Rai. “Although Sanjay Prakash 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 said payment of ₹6 crore was received by Sanjay Prakash Rai under the guise of donation to YREF from Dalmia Family Office Trust,” said the ED.
The rest of the amount was received in the account of YREF, layered and placed in the bank accounts of Mr. Rai’s sons, Yash Sanjayprakash Rai and Sujal Sanjayprakash Rai, in the form of accommodation entries from certain Delhi-based jewellers on the pretext of sale of old jewellery, the agency said.
The ED found that Mr. Rai had allegedly cheated several other persons of over ₹2.51 crore using similar modus operandi. One of the victims was Mohit Singh, managing director of Shipra Estate Limited, who paid ₹1 crore. The amount was also received through YREF.
Naveen Kumar Malhotra, director of Bindu Fashion Private Limited was cheated of ₹1 crore and Sunil Chand Goyal, director of Metadesign Solution Private Limited, of ₹51.50 lakh. The accused would pose as an influencer, social worker or claim that he was associated with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), it has been alleged.
In another case, the agency has chargesheeted one Mohammad Kashif for allegedly extorting money from people by projecting himself to be close to officers of the PMO and the ED. The probe is based on an FIR registered by the Surajpur police in U.P. During the searches, the agency had earlier seized about ₹1.10 crore in cash and documents from his residence in Noida.
These documents pertain to investigation conducted by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Customs, ED, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, etc. Mr. Kashif had extorted ₹1 crore from the family of a businessman on the promise of helping them in a case being investigated by the ED.
According to the ED, Mr. Kashif had bought a property worth ₹1.78 crore, of which ₹1.05 crore was paid in cash. “...He had spent huge amounts on his luxurious lifestyle (high-end luxury cars, watches, clothes, etc.,) including multiple foreign trips without having any legitimate source of money,” the agency said.
