Money laundering case: Court orders ED to expedite extradition process of Sanjay Bhandari from the UK

In what will be a setback for Sanjay Bhandari, alleged arms dealer and close aide of Robert Vadra, Ld. Special Judge (PC Act) (CBI) Rouse Avenue Court through order dated 15.10.2020 took cognizance of the prosecution complaint filed by ED. The Ld. Special Judge also issued summons to the accused persons and directed the ED to expedite the process of extradition against Sanjay Bhandari pending before UK Authorities so that he can be brought to India for trial in accordance with law. The Ld. Special Judge also permitted ED to carry out further investigation in this case.

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This action follows in the wake of a prosecution complaint filed under section 44 and 45 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). It was filed on 01.06.2020 against Sanjay Bhandari and other co-conspirators, including various companies floated by him in overseas jurisdiction, for the offence of money laundering under section 3 of PMLA punishable under section 4 of PMLA.

A complaint under Section 51(1) of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income & Assets) and Imposition of Act, 2015 [Black Money Act] was filed against accused Sanjay Bhandari before Ld. ACMM by Income Tax authorities in pursuance of proceedings initiated against him by the Income Tax Department under the provisions of Black Money Act. It was revealed that accused Sanjay Bhandari stashed black money abroad with the assistance of his accomplices to evade taxes causing huge financial loss to the national exchequer.

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Since the offence under Section 51 of the Black Money Act is a scheduled offence under PMLA, investigation was undertaken by ED. During the course of investigation it was revealed that Sanjay Bhandari incorporated various entities in UAE as owner / beneficial owner and also had financial interest in entity incorporated in Panama. It was also revealed that all those foreign assets and entities were not disclosed by Sanjay Bhandari to Income Tax authorities in India.