Land for jobs scam: ED recovers cash, gold, sale deeds in multi-city raids
Mar 11, 2023
New Delhi [India], March 11 : Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at 24 locations at various places in Delhi NCR, Patna, Mumbai and Ranchi in the Railways land-for-job scams.
The searches were conducted based on specific intelligence inputs.
Searches resulted in the recovery of unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore, foreign currency including USD 1,900, 540 gm gold bullion and more than 1.5 kg of gold jewellery (worth Rs 1.25 crore approximately), several other incriminating documents including various property documents, sale deeds etc held in the names of family members and benamidaars indicating illegal accretion of huge land bank and electronic devices.
Searches resulted in the detection of Proceeds of Crime amounting to Rs 600 crore approximately at this point of time which is in the form of immovable properties of Rs 350 crore and transactions of Rs 250 crore routed through various benamidaars.
The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) investigation conducted so far has revealed that several pieces of land at prominent locations in Patna and other areas were illegally acquired by the family of the then Rail Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in lieu of jobs provided in Railways. The current market value of these land parcels is more than Rs 200 crore. In this regard, several benamidars, shell entities and beneficial owners for these lands have been identified, said ED statement. 
Further, investigation under PMLA revealed that the property situated at D-1088, New Friends Colony, Delhi (independent 4-storied bungalow, registered in the name of AB Exports Private Limited, a company owned and controlled by Tejashwi Yadav and family) was shown to have been acquired at a value of mere Rs 4 Lakhs, the present market value of which is approximately Rs 150 crore. It is suspected that a huge amount of cash/Proceeds of Crime has been infused in purchasing this property and a few Mumbai-based entities, dealing in the gems and jewellery sector were used to channel ill-gotten proceeds of crime in this regard.
The property has been though, on paper declared as the office of AB Exports Private Limited and AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd, it is being exclusively used as residential premises by Tejasvi Yadav, son of Lalu Prasad Yadav. During the searches, Tejasvi Yadav was found to be staying at this house and was found to be using this house as his residential property.
ED investigation revealed that four parcels of lands acquired by the family of Lalu Yadav in just Rs 7.5 lakh from poor Group-D applicants were sold to Syed Abu Dojana, former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA by Rabri Devi with huge gains at Rs 3.5 crore in a collusive deal.
ED investigation further revealed that a major portion of the amount thus received, was transferred to the account of Tejashwi Yadav. Investigations revealed that in a similar fashion, lands were taken from several poor parents and candidates in lieu of Group D jobs in the Railways. It has been revealed during the investigation that in many Railways Zones, more than 50 per cent of recruited candidates were from Lalu Yadav families' constituencies. Further investigation in this regard is ongoing.
The investigation is underway to unearth more investments made on behalf of Lalu Yadav's family and their associates in various sectors, including real estate at various places.
Further investigation into the case is continuing.
