CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Aashish Jain, the director of Chennai-based real estate company Arihant Shelters, as part of an ongoing investigation into a money laundering case involving government (OSR) land sold to private parties through falsified documentation. These lands were later purchased at inflated prices for the Sipcot and NHAI projects.
The arrest occurred following searches conducted on November 19 across 15 locations in Chennai, Kanchipuram, and Chengalpet connected to a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case initiated by the ED. Aashish is scheduled to appear before a magistrate on Tuesday, according to ED sources. Arihant has multiple real estate projects planned in Ranipet.
During the searches, the ED recovered ₹1.56 crore in cash and ₹74 lakh worth of gold. Bank accounts holding ₹8.4 crore and shares valued at ₹7.4 crore have also been frozen under the PMLA.
Post-search, the ED has primarily named V G S Rajesh, a partner of VGP Investments Ltd, as responsible for reversing the gift deeds of OSR lands and selling them to private individuals just before their acquisition by NHAI for the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway and Sipcot for industrial development.
The investigation revealed that the buyers of these lands were associates of the sellers, artificially inflating the purchase prices to claim higher compensation during acquisitions by NHAI and Sipcot. The ED noted that the proceeds from these sales were funneled through shell companies and withdrawn as large cash sums.
