 "IFFCO")
Money laundering not only affects the social and economic fabric of the nation but also promotes terrorism, a Delhi court said on Wednesday while dismissing the the bail application of an accused in the alleged IIFCO fertiliser scam where Rs 685 crore was claimed to have been paid as kickbacks.
Special Judge Vikas Dhull made the observations while denying relief to Sanjay Jain, who was arrested for allegedly channelling the proceeds of crime from foreign shores to India.
The case relates to payment of illegal commissions worth over Rs 685 crore to the NRI sons of Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) Managing Director and CEO U S Awasthi and Indian Potash Ltd (IPL) Managing Director P S Gahlaut and others by overseas suppliers during 2007-14.
This was allegedly done through transactions facilitated by AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal case accused Rajiv Saxena. The case also involves RJD Rajya Sabha MP Amarendra Dhari Singh, who is currently out on bail.
The court noted the submission made by ED's Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana, and said there was prima facie material on record to show that Jain had committed the offence of money laundering by being involved in acquiring part proceeds of crime to the tune of USD 6.18 Million (around Rs 35 crore).
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The court said the offence of money laundering is a serious economic offence and a heinous crime, which not only affects the social and economic fabric of the nation, but also tends to promote other heinous offences, such as terrorism, offences related to NDPS Act etc.
It is a proven fact that international criminal network that support home grown extremist groups relies on transfer of unaccounted money across nation States, thus, by any stretch of imagination, it cannot be said that there is no compelling State interest in providing stringent conditions of bail for the offence of money-laundering, the judge said.
The court held money laundering was committed by an individual with a deliberate design and motive to enhance his gains, disregarding the interest of the nation and society as a whole and which, by no stretch of imagination, can be termed as an offence of trivial nature.
Hence, Jain is not entitled to the benefit of bail... Hence, application of Jain is dismissed, the judge said.
Rana told the court that the ED case was filed after officials studied an FIR filed by the CBI which raided at least a dozen locations last month in connection with its probe.
The CBI has alleged that commissions were received in this case from the suppliers of fertilisers and raw materials using a complex web of transactions.
The "sham" transactions were facilitated through circuitous routes in the garb of consultancy agreements to hide the commissions paid to IFFCO CEO Awasthi and Indian Potash head Gahlaut, who allegedly imported fertilisers and raw materials at inflated rates, the CBI said.
The modus operandi was similar to that adopted to send kickbacks in the AgustaWestland choppers case in which Saxena is under investigation. Saxena's role in a number of such deals is being probed by the CBI and the ED.
IFFCO is a multi-state farmers' cooperative while IPL is its company involved in supplying fertilisers for which the government provides subsidies to keep rates affordable for farmers.
The CBI has alleged that between 2007 and 2014, in order to claim higher subsidies, Awasthi and Gahlaut as part of a "criminal conspiracy" imported fertilisers at highly inflated rates.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
