Under the terms of the PMLA, 2002, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached six immovable properties with a book value of Rs. 6.02 crore that belong to Smt. Rabri Devi, Smt. Misha Bharti, Vineet Yadav, Smt. Hema Yadav, Shiv Kumar Yadav and Lalu Yadav’s family members own and manage M/s A B Exports Pvt Ltd and M/s A K Infosystem Pvt Ltd, two businesses involved in the Railway job for a land scam.
The FIR filed by the CBI against the former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, Smt. Rabri Devi and others served as the basis for the inquiry, which was started by the ED under the PMLA of 2002. In this instance, seven land plots were obtained by family members of Lalu Yadav, who served as the then-minister of railways from 2004 to 2009, as a form of payment for Group D positions with the Indian Railways from the applicants who were illegitimately appointed (as Substitutes) and their families.
According to the ED’s investigation, candidates’ families gave or sold land to Lalu Yadav’s family and associated businesses for less than market value in exchange for jobs that were granted inadvertently, hastily, and against established law and procedure. His family members acquired property tracts in Mahuabagh (Danapur) and Bihta, Patna, in such a way as to consolidate the land holdings they already had as a result of this criminal conspiracy to exploit his official position to solicit bribes.
Earlier in this case, searches were also carried out by the ED at 24 locations, including the homes of Mrs Hema Yadav, Mrs Ragini Lalu, and Mrs Chanda Yadav, as well as the residential and business properties of Amit Katyal, Navdeep Sardana, Abu Dojana, and Suman Nayak, CA. Unaccounted cash totalling Rs. 1 crore, foreign money including USD 1900, 540 gms of gold bullion, more than 1.5 kg of gold jewellery, and several other damning documents suggesting the unlawful accretion of substantial land banks were found during searches.
A PMLA investigation revealed that Smt Rabri Devi and Smt Hema Yadav sold four land parcels they had illegally acquired from railway appointees to M/s Meridian Construction India Ltd., a business connected to Syed Abu Dojana, an ex-MLA of RJD. The proceeds of the crime they had obtained were then transferred to M/s A B Exports Pvt Ltd and M/s Bhagirathi Tubes, respectively. Smt. Rabri Devi and Smt. Hema Yadav made significant profits when they sold these land pieces for Rs 3.5 Crore as opposed to their acquisition cost of Rs 7.5 lakhs.
According to the ED’s investigation, M/s A B Exports Pvt Ltd, which has its registered address at D-1088, New Friends Colony, Delhi, is a shell business controlled by Tejashwi Yadav and Smt. Chanda Yadav D/o Lalu Yadav. The father-in-law and spouse of Smt. Hema Yadav is the owner of M/s Bhagirathi Tubes, a partnership having its headquarters in Ghaziabad (UP).
Six immovable properties in total, located in New Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Patna, have been provisionally attached under the PMLA of 2002 as being the proceeds of crime. The residential building held by M/s A B Exports Pvt Ltd. is one of the properties attached. It is located at D-1088, New Friends Colony, New Delhi. Two property plots, one each held by Smt. Rabri Devi and M/s. AK Infosystems Pvt. Ltd., is located in Mahuabagh (Danapur), Patna, and has also been attached.
Furthermore, Smt. Misa Bharti’s property piece in Bihta, Patna, has been annexed. Additionally, a portion of two industrial plots in the Industrial Area, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, one plot each registered in the names of Vineet Yadav, Smt. Hema Yadav’s husband, and Shiv Kumar Yadav, Smt. Hema Yadav’s father-in-law has also been provisionally attached.
The property is a standalone, four-story home that is registered in the name of M/s A B Exports Private Limited and was purchased in 2011 for about Rs 4 Lakhs. It is located at D-1088, New Friends Colony, New Delhi. The fact that this location is being utilised only for domestic reasons while being listed as the registered corporate office of several firms controlled by members of the Yadav family, was also made clear during the search operation carried out at the aforementioned premises on March 10, 2023. Additional inquiry is being conducted in accordance with the PMLA, 2002 requirements.
