Punjab Minister Sanjeev Arora Granted 7-Day ED Custody in Money Laundering Case (Gurugram)

The court observed that the allegations against the accused were serious and that the ED needed to decode the money trail, identify the roles of the accused and associates, and uncover how the proceeds of crime were generated and circulated. It stated that once an ECIR is registered and a prima facie case under the PMLA is made out, the ED must trace the proceeds of crime and reveal the modus operandi. The court directed medical examination of the accused before custodial interrogation and said custody cannot be transferred to any other agency without prior permission from the competent court. It allowed the accused’s counsel to meet him daily between 10:00 am and 11:00 am during the custody period.

The remand note cited a statement from Kavya Arora, son of Sanjeev Arora, who allegedly told investigators that he had no knowledge about any mobile phone export business and that he only looked after the family’s real estate operations.

The remand note alleged that during FY 2023-24, Hampton Sky Realty Pvt Ltd showed mobile phone sales worth about Rs 157 crore to domestic and overseas entities, with around Rs 102 crore routed to two UAE-based firms, Fortbell Telecom and Dragon Telecom. It claimed Rahul Aggrawal of Fortbell Gadget Pvt Ltd had links with Hemant Sood and Chandrashekhar, who were allegedly connected to Hampton Sky Realty Pvt Ltd. Investigators asserted that several supplier firms were non-existent or shell entities or lacked the capacity to undertake such large transactions and issued bogus invoices without actual supply. Some entities involved were non-filers of Income Tax Returns and had GST registrations suspended shortly after brief operation.

A District and Sessions court in Gurugram granted the Enforcement Directorate seven days' custody of Punjab Minister and businessman Sanjeev Arora in connection with an alleged money laundering case. Arora was produced before the court at around 11:20 pm on Friday night. The ED had sought 10 days' custodial interrogation, but the court granted seven days. The remand note informed the court that searches and seizure operations were carried out at the premises of Hampton Sky Realty Pvt Ltd following inputs regarding suspicious inward remittances alleged to be received as fake exports.