ED files charge sheet against 'conman' who duped people in name of PMO, contacts with politicians

ED files charge sheet against alleged conman Sanjay Prakash Rai for “cheating” people by portraying himself close to PMO, senior bureaucrats and politicians. ED arrested Mr. Rai after conducting searches at 42 locations.

A charge sheet under the anti-money laundering law has been filed against alleged conman Sanjay Prakash Rai alias Sanjay Sherpuria for “cheating” several people by portraying himself to be close to the PMO, senior bureaucrats and politicians, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on August 2.

The prosecution complaint was filed before a Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court at the Patiala House Courts in Delhi on July 28 and the court took cognisance of it on July 31, it said in a statement.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR filed by the Lucknow Police alleging that Mr. Rai “duped” huge amount of money from general public by portraying himself close to senior politicians and bureaucrats and claiming to be an influencer, a social worker and associated with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The ED had arrested Mr. Rai few months back after it conducted searches at 42 locations in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Ghazipur, Pune and Gandhidham.

In one instance, the agency alleged, Mr. Rai “duped” businessman Gaurav Dalmia and his family to the tune of ₹12 crore by instilling in him a fear of arrest in an ongoing investigation conducted by the ED.

An amount of ₹6 crore out of the total amount was received in the bank account of the Youth Rural Entrepreneur Foundation (YREF) in January, 2023 from Dalmia Family Office Trust, wherein Mr. Gaurav Dalmia is a trustee, the ED said. Mr. Rai, according to the ED, incorporated the YREF under the Companies Act as a not for profit company on February 16, 2019 and the registered address of YREF was village Karaila, Post Saheri in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. However, the actual operational activities of YREF are being done from house No 1, Delhi Riding Club, Safdarjung Road, New Delhi which is also the residential address of Mr. Rai, it said. Although Mr. Rai does not hold any official position in YREF, he controls the day-to-day affairs of the company and is the ultimate beneficiary, the agency said. The said payment of ₹6 crore was received by Mr. Rai “under the guise of donation in YREF from Dalmia Family Office Trust”.

Mr. Rai is alleged to have forged documents in respect of payments of ₹6 crore received from Dalmia Family Office Trust to conceal the true nature of transactions. In addition to the ₹6 crore received in the account of YREF, a sum of ₹6 crore was received “in cash” by Mr. Rai from Dalmia which was subsequently “layered and placed” in the bank accounts of his sons Yash Sanjayprakash Rai and Sujal Sanjayprakash Rai in the form of accommodation (hawala) entries from certain Delhi based jewellers in the garb of sale of old jewellery, the ED alleged.