ED seizes Rs 5 crore in cash, Rs 8-crore jewellery from Delhi house in money laundering case

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday seized Rs 5.12 crore in cash, a suitcase containing gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 8.80 crore, and documents linked to assets worth Rs 35 crore during searches at a Delhi house, officials said.

The raid at the residential premises in south Delhi's Sarvapriya Vihar is being undertaken by the federal probe agency in a money laundering investigation linked to Haryana-based absconding criminal Inderjit Singh Yadav, who, according to the ED, is operating from the UAE.

ED officials said the house is linked to a person named Aman Kumar, an alleged associate of Yadav, and the raids that began on Tuesday are continuing.

Bank officials equipped with currency counting machines were called in on Wednesday morning, and so far, Rs 5.12 crore in cash, a suitcase full of gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 8.80 crore and a bag containing bank cheque books and documents linked to assets worth Rs 35 crore have been seized, they said.

Neither Yadav nor Kumar could be contacted for a comment on the ED charges made against them.

The money laundering case against Yadav pertains to alleged illegal extortion, coercive loan settlement of private financers and earning commission from such illegal activities. The ED case stems from 14 FIRs and chargesheets filed by the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh Police against Yadav and his associates.

The ED had conducted the first round of searches in this case on December 26 and 27 at 10 locations in Delhi, Gurugram and Rohtak in Haryana. Apart from locations linked to Yadav, it also raided premises related to a company named Apollo Green Energy Ltd.

In a statement issued on December 29, the ED said Yadav was "wanted in various cases of Haryana Police and is currently absconding and operating from the UAE."

The agency added that Yadav, owner and "key controller" of a company named Gem Records Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (operating as Gems Tunes), is a known "strong man" involved in criminal activities like murder, extortion, coercive settlements of loans given by private financers, illegal land grabbing, cheating, fraud and violent offences.

It alleged that certain corporate houses, like Apollo Green Energy Ltd. and others, allegedly borrowed "huge" sums of money in cash from Dighal and Jhajjar (Haryana) based private financers and issued post-dated cheques as security.

"Yadav acted as a strong man and enforcer, facilitating coercive settlement of these high-value private loan transactions and financial disputes running into hundreds of crores of rupees.

"These settlements were allegedly executed through threats, intimidation and the use of armed associates and local armed gangs with the involvement of organised crime syndicates operating from abroad," the ED said.

The agency claimed Yadav allegedly "earned" hundreds of crores of rupees as commission from these corporates for getting their cases settled, and the income so generated by him was used for acquisition of immovable properties, luxury cars and maintaining a "luxurious life while declaring minimum income tax returns".

The ED, during the first round of searches early this month, seized five high-end cars, Rs 17 lakh in cash and froze some bank lockers.