The court ruled that M/s SIFCL suffered a loss of Rs 1,06,71,000 due to criminal activity by accused Mukesh Jain.
New Delhi: The Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi convicted two people accused of money laundering under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. On March 30, Special Judge Mohd Farrukh ruled that the prosecution/Directorate of Enforcement proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mukesh Jain and Nipun Bansal committed money laundering offenses under Section 3 of PMLA. They were convicted accordingly.
However, the prosecution failed to substantiate Shiv Kumar Bhargava and Benu Jain’s money-laundering charges, hence they were acquitted under Section 3 of the PMLA, according to the court’s decision. Naveen Kumar Matta, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP), represented the Directorate of Enforcement.
Ruling From Court
The court ruled in the judgment that the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the attached amount of Rs 56,10,000 is part of the Proceeds of Crime (PoC), and thus it is confiscated by the Central Government by Section 8 (5) of the PMLA.
However, Rs 10,00,000 in M/s SG’s bank account, which had been frozen by the CBI in the predicate offence case, had already been instructed to be defrozen and deposited with the complainant, i.e., M/s SIFCL, in the scheduled crime case, pursuant to a judgment dated November 25, 2023.
The Court ruled that M/s SIFCL suffered a loss of Rs 1,06,71,000 due to criminal activity by accused Mukesh Jain. As a result, the Central Government was directed to restore the confiscated properties worth Rs. 56,10,000/- to M/s SIFCL under Section 8(8) of the PMLA.
Accused Pramod Kumar Pandey and Adhiraj Kumar be summoned under Section 319 Cr.P.C. for 15.04.2024 to face, the trial afresh and separately under Section 3 of PMLA punishable under Section 4 of PMLA, said the court.
Highlights Of ED’s Investigation
According to the ED’s ECIR, the case was predicated on a CBI FIR filed against anonymous bank officials and others for defrauding the Punjab National Bank in Lucknow. After completing the investigation into the aforementioned allegations, the CBI filed a charge sheet, concluding that from October 2008 to March 2009, accused persons and other co-accused (public servants) conspired among themselves to forge and fabricate eight cheques; three cheques were encashed/cleared, and an amount of Rs 1,46,71,000 was credited to bank accounts operated by Mukesh Jain and accused Nipun Bansa, causing wrongful loss to PNB and its account-holders.
The inquiry further revealed that the aforementioned accused attempted to cash the remaining five forged and manufactured checks totaling Rs 2,72,38,000; however, their attempts were unsuccessful because the forgery of cheques was identified by the banks concerned. On these premises, the accused were brought up to face trial for the commission of offenses punishable under Sections 120B 420/467/468/471/511 IPC, Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the PC Act, and substantive violations thereof.
Chargesheet Filed By CBI
In the matter, the ED stated that on the basis of the CBI’s FIR and the chargesheet filed, the current ECIR was recorded on December 14, 2009, against the aforementioned accused persons, alleging that because the offenses in the CBI case were Scheduled Offences under the PMLA case, it was made out for investigation for the commission of an offense under Section 3 of the PMLA punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA against the accused persons. Following that, investigations under PMLA were launched, and testimonies from various people, including the accused people, were recorded under Section 50 of PMLA 2002. Documents and bank account statements were obtained from various authorities and banks.
After completion of the investigation, ED filed the present complaint and stated that, the aggregate ‘PoC’ was Rs 1,46,71,000, which was laundered by the accused persons in the present case.
(With inputs from ANI)
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