NEW DELHI, Sept 29: A penthouse and lands worth over Rs 27 crore belonging to a former Uttar Pradesh MLA have been ordered to be seized as “proceeds of crime” by a special money laundering court here in connection with the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam.
The assets of ex-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA from eastern UP’s Deoria Ram Prasad Jaiswal include lands and immovable properties in his constituency, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Gorakhpur and a duplex penthouse in Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram area.
Jaiswal, considered a close aide of former state Health minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, was arrested alongwith him by the CBI last year for alleged irregularities in the NRHM scheme that was being implemented in the state.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), through its zonal office in Lucknow, had slapped money laundering charges against Jaiswal and his son Shyam Sunder after taking cognisance of the CBI FIR registered in this case.
Shyam Sunder was booked under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in this case as he was officiating as a Director of some companies which were receiving the alleged laundered funds sourced through bribes obtained in lieu of getting work done under the flagship health scheme of the central government.
“Ram Prasad Jaiswal, who is accused of commission of scheduled offences and a receiver of bribe/commission, primarily cash, against allotment of contract under NRHM, has used his companies for parking of bribe money through paper based companies at Kolkata.
“I carefully perused…The CBI chargesheets…The detailed investigation carried out by the complainant (ED in this case) and the facts they have thrown up (against Jaiswal and his son).. .I am convinced that properties provisionally attached by the complainant, are, prima facie, involved in money laundering,” K Raamamoorthy, Acting Chairman of the Adjudicating Authority of PMLA said in his latest order.
The ED had provisionally attached these properties, with the total value of Rs 27,78,47,159, in March this year and armed with this order the agency will take the possession of these assets as they have been termed “proceeds of crime” by the court, which is a judicial authority for laundering crime cases.
The agency, during its year-long probe, had found that Jaiswal had received installments in eight private limited companies “controlled” by him and where his family members were appointed as Directors.
“The bribe money received in cash by Jaiswal was handed over to Kolkata based companies with the help of some private persons, CAs, based at Kolkata.Subsequently, these Kolkata based companies invested the proceeds of crime received by them in cash, in the form of share capital/premium in the eight companies of Jaiswal.The share capital has further been consolidated by intra group movement of funds,” the court said while quoting ED’s probe report.
The bribe money/commission received by Jaiswal, the court said, “has been converted into untainted money as share capital (approximately Rs 30 crore) in his companies through Kolkata based companies.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in its probe report against the MLA from Barhaj in Deoria said Jaiswal was alleged to be “involved in misappropriation of funds from various NRHM schemes….And thus, obtaining unlawful gains….The bribe amount of Babu Singh Kushwaha and Jaiswal were invested in various trusts and companies owned/controlled by them, their family members ans associates.”
The CBI charge sheet threw more light on the joint role played by both Kushwaha and Jaiswal in perpetrating the scam.
“Kushwaha informed all the concerned that work relating to award of contract under NRHM was looked after by Jaiswal.
“Accordingly, Kushwaha and Jaiswal demanded bribe amount of three per cent of total project value from representative of Ms Surgicoin Mediquip Pvt Ltd,” the CBI charge sheet had alleged. (PTI)
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