Land for job scam: ED makes seizures worth Rs 600 crore

New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said that unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore, $1,900 (over Rs 1.5 lakh), 540 gm gold and 1.5 kg of gold jewellery and other incriminating documents were recovered following the raids conducted on Friday in connection with land for job scam case involving former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and his family members.

The ED said that raids were conducted at more than 24 locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna and in Ranchi based on specific intelligence inputs.

"Searches resulted in the detection of proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 600 crore which is in the form of immovable properties of Rs 350 crore and transactions of Rs 250 crore routed through various 'benami' channels," the ED said.

The ED said that an investigation conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) so far has revealed that several plots of land at prominent locations in Patna and other areas were illegally acquired by the family of Lalu Prasad in lieu of jobs provided in Railways. The current market value of these land parcels is more than Rs 200 crore.

The official said that several benamidars, shell entities and beneficial owners for these lands have been identified.

"A property situated at D-1088, New Friends Colony, Delhi (independent 4-storey bungalow, registered in the name of AB Exports Private Limited, a company owned and controlled by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and family) was shown to have been acquired at a value of mere Rs 4 lakh, the current market value of which is approximately Rs 150 crore," the ED claimed.

The official said that huge amount of cash/proceeds of crime were infused in purchasing this property, and a few Mumbai-based entities, dealing in the gems and jewellery sector were used to channel the ill-gotten proceeds of crime in this regard.

"The property has been, though, on paper declared as the office of AB Exports Private Limited and AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd... it is being exclusively used as residential premises by Tejashwi Yadav," ED alleged.

The ED said that the investigation has found that four parcels of land acquired by the family of Lalu Prasad for just Rs 7.5 lakhs from poor Group-D applicants were sold to Syed Abu Dojana, former RJD legislator by Rabri Devi, ex-Bihar Chief Minister, with huge gains at Rs 3.5 crore.

The ED said the investigation has further revealed that a major portion of the amount thus received was transferred to the account of Tejashwi Yadav.