ED files chargesheet against Misa Bharti, husband in money laundering case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday filed a chargesheet against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Misa Bharti, her husband Shailesh Kumar and others in an alleged Rs 8,000 crore money laundering case.

The agency filed the chargesheet before Special Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra at the Patiala House Court. The judge has listed the matter for consideration in the first week of January.

The chargesheet against Bharti, the eldest daughter of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, is under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, an ED official said.

The ED in July had also filed a supplementary chargesheet against Bharti's chartered accountant Rajesh Agrawal in connection with the case in which it named around 35 accused, including businessmen brothers Surendra and Virendra Jain and some companies.

Agrawal was accused of converting black money into legal source of income through dubious transactions with the help of the Jain brothers.

The ED arrested the brothers on March 20. In May, its filed the first chargesheeet in the case and thereafter, arrested Agrawal on May 22. Agrawal has also been accused of helping Bharti's husband's company, Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt Ltd "with some transactions".

Earlier this month, the ED also questioned Bharti here in connection with the case and also raided three premises in Delhi belonging to Bharti and her husband, including the farmhouses located in the high-class localities of Ghitorni, Bijwasan and Sainik Farms.

The ED said it registered an FIR in the case following criminal complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigating Office (SFIO) in the Tis Hazari courts here.

As per the ED chargesheet, the modus operandi of Jain brothers was to launder the unaccounted money through the process of placement of funds (cash), layering of transactions and the final integration of laundering money into the banking channel camouflaged as legitimate share premium transactions.

Funds in cash were brought in by the mediators on behalf of the beneficiaries, it said.

"Jain brothers were providing accommodation entries by accepting cash from their beneficiaries through mediators and converting it into share premium transactions in the beneficiary company. In this process, they earned money as a certain percentage of the unaccounted money converted into share premium.

"During investigation, it has been revealed that 1,20,000 shares of Mishail Packers and Printers were bought during 2007-2009 at Rs 100 per share by four shell companies namely Shalini Holdings Limited, Ad-Fin Capital Services (India) Pvt Ltd, Mani Mala Delhi Properties Pvt Ltd and Diamond Vinimay Pvt Ltd."

Shalini Holdings, Ad-Fin, and Mani Mala companies were managed and controlled by Jain brothers while Diamond Vinimay was managed by Santosh Kumar Shah, said the chargesheet.

It said that the 1,20,000 shares were later brought by Bharti at Rs 12 per share in the year 2009.

"The ED chargesheet further said that Mishail Packers and Printers was registered at the address 25, Tuglak Road, New Delhi till the shares were brought by Bharti. It was only during the year 2009-10 that the address was changed to Farm No. 26 Palam Farms, VPO Bijwasan, New Delhi. Bharti and her husband were the directors of the company during the relevant period," said the chargesheet.

It was also revealed that Bharti's CA, a mediator, has provided cash of Rs 90 lakh to Jain brothers in advance so as to invest in Mishail Packers and Printers as share premium and Sandeep Sharma, another mediator, has provided a cash of Rs 30 lakh to Santosh Kumar Shah.

Thus, Mishail Packers and Printers and its directors laundered their unaccounted money of Rs 1.20 crore by taking accommodation entries from Jain brothers and Santosh Kumar Shah through mediators in the form of share capital and share premium by various shell companies controlled by them.

The ED investigation also revealed that the Rs 1.20 crore laundered money was utilized by Mishail Packers and Printers and its directors for purchase of a farm house at 26, Palam Farms at Bijwasan. "Hence, the said farm was also attached by the ED."

The chargesheet further said that the ED so far has seized property worth Rs 67.02 crore during its probe in the case.