Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken action by provisionally attaching a multitude of properties associated with Ishwarlal Jain, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP, in connection with a money laundering case. Ishwarlal Jain, who has previously served as the treasurer of the NCP, is known to be a close associate of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
The ED's action encompasses approximately 70 immovable assets located across various regions, including Jalgaon, Mumbai, Thane, Sillod in Maharashtra, and Kutch in Gujarat, among others. In addition to the properties, the probe agency has seized silver and diamond jewelry, as well as currency, with the total worth of all the assets estimated at Rs 315.60 crore, according to officials. These assets, both movable and immovable, include properties held under benami names that were allegedly acquired by Ishwarlal Jain, his son Manish Jain, and other individuals.
The ED's case against Jain is rooted in a bank fraud FIR initiated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2022 against jewelry companies associated with Ishwarlal Jain and others. The probe agency asserts that its investigations, stemming from a complaint lodged by the State Bank of India, unveiled the involvement of Jain and other promoters of the jewelry companies in criminal activities, including conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and criminal misconduct. These actions purportedly caused a wrongful loss of over Rs 352.49 crore to the bank.
The accused are alleged to have submitted falsified financial records to secure substantial loans from the bank and engaged in circular transactions to inflate financial statements. They are said to have illicitly funneled the funds through various means, as per the ED's allegations. Prior to this, the agency had carried out search operations at 13 official and residential premises linked to the business group in which Ishwarlal Jain holds a stake. These raids revealed a series of financial irregularities. The investigation is ongoing, and further developments are awaited.
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