The chief magistrate court, Ahmedabad (rural), granted permission to the department of enforcement directorate (ED) to interrogate Ashok Jadeja for the case registered under Prevention of Money  Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

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The central agency has filed application seeking permission to interrogate Jadeja on Saturday. As per the application filed by ED, Jadeja is chargesheeted for the offence under section 420 and 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code, which is a scheduled offence under section 2 (y) of the PMLA. The enforcement agency had also registered a case against Jadeja to further investigate the case.

However, the agency in their application stated that for further investigation and to ascertain various facts relating to fraudulent nets, they need to examine Jadeja and record his statement under section 50 of PMLA, 2002. Hence the team of officials of the agency which included assistant director, Shamim Parwez; enforcement officer, PL Dev and assistant enforcement officer, RK Meena, be allowed to record Jadeja’s statement between July 5 and July 11.

Jadeja was arrested in June 2009 by the state CID for duping thousands of people of the Chhara community. Jadeja had reportedly designed a scheme to cheat people because his clinic in Sarkhej was not fetching him enough earnings. He presented himself as a priest of the Mata Sikotar temple and claimed to have divine powers. He promised people to return thrice the amount of money they entrusted him with in three days.

After the CID had registered the case and arrested Jadeja and his associates, the enforcement agency had also soon started investigating the case under PMLA. Jadeja had through this scheme swindled as much as Rs550 crores and had invested most of the amount in real estate.