ED attaches properties worth Rs 315.60 crore of Pawar’s close aide
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached multiple properties linked to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Ishwarlal Jain in a money laundering case.
Ishwarlal Jain, who was also the former treasurer of NCP, is said to be a close aide of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
As many as 70 immovable assets in different locations, including Jalgaon, Mumbai, Thane, Sillod in Maharashtra, and Kutch in Gujarat, among other areas, have been attached.
Along with the properties, the probe agency has also seized silver and diamond jewellery, as well as currency. All assets are valued at Rs 315.60 crore, the officials said.
The attached movable and immovable assets include the benami properties acquired by Ishwarlal Jain, his son Manish Jain, and others.
The ED’s case against Jain is based on a bank fraud FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2022 against jewellery companies linked to Ishwarlal Jain and others.
The probe agency alleges that their investigations, based on a complaint filed by the State Bank of India, revealed that Jain and other promoters of the jewellery companies were involved in offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and criminal misconduct, causing a wrongful loss of more than Rs 352.49 crore to the bank.
The accused individuals allegedly submitted fake financial records to obtain significant loans from the bank and engaged in round-tripping of transactions to inflate the financials. They have siphoned off the money through illegal means, according to the ED.
Previously, the agency had conducted search operations at 13 official and residential premises of the business group in which Ishwarlal Jain is a part. The raids uncovered several financial irregularities. Further investigation is in progress.
