Watch: Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora Cries Inconsolably Outside Court After Arrest In Rs 100-Crore Fraud Case

SANJEEV ARORA VIRAL VIDEO: The Sessions court in Gurugram on May 18 extended judicial custody for Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in the case of a ₹100 crore money laundering case under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The Sessions Court in Gurugram had issued an order for further custody of Arora for further questioning and investigation into the financial transactions related to the case. While in court, Sanjeev Arora broke down and appeared visibly emotional during the proceedings. The ED has accused the case of money laundering involving huge amounts of money and shady financial activities. But, the minister has denied all charges brought against him.

The case has been a talking point among the Pakistani opposition as well as those who backed Arora, who have called for his accountability and termed the move politically motivated in Punjab, respectively. The ED will keep looking into financial records and business ties and tracing transaction trails during its investigation.

When was Sanjeev Arora arrested? 

Sanjeev Arora, 62, was arrested by the ED on May 9 following raids at his premises in an alleged Rs 100 crore GST fraud case pertaining to mobile phone exports carried out through firms associated with him. Police are looking at the files of the power clearance, the financial approval and the changes in the regulations in recent months, sources said.

The letter dated 15th April issued by PSPCL also came to light on Saturday. The letter said that the PM (Arora then) requested all to come to the office at 5 am on the next day (April 16). Former minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia claimed they were called that day and valuable files were removed from them.

Why was Sanjeev Arora arrested by ED?

The ED had informed that Arora was arrested in a fake GST refund money laundering racket worth Rs 100 crore in relation to mobile phone exports through companies that he had association with, including HSRL.

The ED believes Arora’s company had set up a chain of shell companies and dummy suppliers to provide fake purchase invoices for mobile phones without supplying any goods. These fake transactions were then allegedly shown as exports to overseas entities, mainly in the UAE, to claim fraudulent GST refunds from the government.

ED makes big accusations against Sanjeev Arora

The ED has accused the firms owned by Arora in front of the court in Gurgaon that mobile phones worth over Rs 157 crore had been purchased through fraudulent invoices made by the shell firms that either never existed physically or did not do any business at all. These companies, as per the ED’s allegations, were not even filers of the income tax returns or had their GST registrations frozen for want of business capacity.

As reported by the authorities, the ED conducted searches on four premises associated with Arora and other firms owned by him under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002. These searches were conducted in Chandigarh and NCR Delhi, where the minister was arrested from his residence in Sector 2 of Chandigarh. This is the third raid on Arora’s premises in the year 2023, as similar steps were also taken against him just last month and in April.

ALSO READ: 7th Pay Commission In West Bengal: What Does It Mean For Government Employees?