The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested an accused in connection with the alleged import of fertilisers and raw materials at inflated rates from 2007 to 2014.
The accused has been identified as Sanjay Jain. The agency has taken his custody till October 11 for recording his statement. He was allegedly instrumental in channelling the proceeds of crime from overseas to India.
The ED probe is based on a first information report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 2021. Among the accused are U.S. Awasthi, managing director and chief executive officer of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO); Pravinder Singh Gahlaut, managing director of Indian Potash Limited; Sanjay Jain, brother of Pankaj Jain, president of Jyoti Trading Corporation and beneficial owner of the other Jyoti Group entities.
The then RJD MP, Amarendra Dhari Singh, as the senior vice-president of Jyoti Trading Corporation, was also made an accused in the case.
According to the agency, illegal commissions were received from overseas suppliers through a complex web of fake commercial transactions via multiple entities registered outside India and controlled by the accused persons to camouflage the fraudulent transactions as genuine.
The ED alleged that U.S. Awasthi, father of Amol and Anupam, and Parvinder Singh Gahlaut, father of Vivek Gahlaut, wielded considerable influence in the fertiliser industry by virtue of their position. “Such payment of commission to them through their sons bleed the coffers of IFFCO and IPL and is a fraud upon the shareholders of IFFCO and IPL...,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.
It has been alleged that ₹37.12 crore and $6.18 million were received by Mr. Sanjay Jain in India through illicit means. Earlier, the agency had arrested his business partner, A.D. Singh, and one Alok Kumar Agarwal with whom he had business relations. “A.D. Singh had also received ₹27.79 crore from Dubai... both Sanjay Jain and A.D. Singh have used the vehicle provided by Alok Kumar Agarwal to receive the proceeds of crime in India,” alleged the ED.
