Land-for-jobs scam: ED questions Lalu Prasad's daughter Chanda Yadav

New Delhi [India], April 13 : The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday questioned Chanda Yadav, daughter of former Union Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in connection with its ongoing money laundering case linked to the alleged land-for-jobs scam.

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Chanda arrived at the ED headquarters earlier in the day and was deposed before the investigators following a summons against her.

The agency is to record Chanda's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). She is the fourth among nine children of the RJD chief.

This is the third consecutive day when Lalu Yadav's third child is being questioned by the ED officials in the case. The agency sleuths on Wednesday questioned the RJD chief's daughter Ragini Yadav. His son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was also questioned on Tuesday for over eight hours in connection with the case.

Earlier, Lalu Yadav's daughter and Rajya Sabha Member Misa Bharti were questioned by the Enforcement Directorate officials last month.

In March, the ED claimed unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore, $1,900, 540 gms gold and 1.5 kg of gold jewellery and other incriminating documents were recovered during the raids conducted at 24 locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna and in Ranchi based on specific intelligence inputs.

The ED had said that they detected around Rs 600 crore in "proceeds of crime" which were in the form of immovable properties of Rs 350 crore and transactions of Rs 250 Crore routed through various benamidaars.

It is alleged that the Prevention of Money Laundering 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 Lalu Yadav in lieu of jobs provided in the Railways. The current market value of these land parcels is more than Rs 200 crore and several benamidars, shell entities and beneficial owners for these lands have been identified.

"A property situated at D-1088, New Friends Colony, Delhi (independent 4-storied bungalow, registered in the name of A.B. Exports Private Ltd, a company owned and controlled by Tejashwi Yadav and family) was shown to have been acquired at a value of mere Rs 4 lakh, the present market value of which is approximately Rs 150 crore," the ED claimed.

An official claimed that a huge amount of cash and proceeds of crime were 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 A.B. Exports Private Ltd and AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd, is being exclusively used as residential premises by Tejashwi Yadav. During the searches, Tejashwi Prasad was found to be staying at this house and was found to be using this house as his residential property," ED has alleged.

The ED said that their investigation has found that four parcels of lands acquired by the family of Lalu Prasad for just Rs 7.5 lakh from poor Group-D applicants were sold to former RJD MLA Syed Abu Dojana by Rabri Devi with huge gains at Rs 3.5 crore.

It said that their investigation has further revealed that a major portion of the amount thus received, was transferred to the account of Tejashwi Yadav.

The ED case, if based on a Central Bureau of Investigation First Information Report, registered in the case last year.

A preliminary enquiry was launched by the CBI in September last year amid allegations that various persons were appointed as substitutes in Group D posts in different zones of Indian Railways between 2004 and 2009, without following guidelines, in exchange for land by unknown public servants.

It is alleged that during Lalu Yadav's tenure as railway minister from 2004-09, 12 irregular candidate appointments were made in the central railways, violating the norms and procedures of the Indian Railways for recruitment. No advertisement or public notice was issued for an appointment but some residents of Patna were appointed as substitutes in different zonal railways located at Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hazipur.