Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate Hyderabad unit has provisionally attached 22 immovable and eight movable properties worth 8 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in a case involving illegal export of psychotropic substances.
The investigation began after Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Hyderabad sub-zonal unit, filed an FIR in May 2022 against Ashish Jain and his family members, based on their involvement in an illegal internet pharmacy operation.
The NCB alleged that Ashish Jain was running a business from JR Infinity Private Limited, exporting psychotropic substances such as Alprazolam, Zolpidem, Lorazepam, Clonazepam, Hydrocodone, and Oxycodone under the guise of providing telemarketing and search engine optimisation services. During searches at the accused’s premises, the NCB seized foreign and Indian currency totaling 3.7 crore and found incriminating evidence regarding the illegal export of drugs. Further probe by ED revealed that Ashish Jain had set up JR Infinity to illegally export psychotropic substances like Alprazolam, Tramadol, and Diazepam to overseas customers, violating the NDPS Act, and generating proceeds of crime.
The ED’s inquiry also uncovered that prior to the company’s formation, Aashish Jain and his family had received over 4.5 crore in foreign remittances into their personal accounts without any legitimate business activities. The total proceeds of crime identified in this case amounted to 12.7 crore.
These illicit proceeds were utilised for creation of fixed deposits and purchase of immovable assets. The attached assets include land in Indore valued at 6.5 crore, as well as movable properties consisting of bank balances and fixed deposits worth 1.46 crore, all in the names of Ashish Jain and his kin.
