Raipur
The State Economic Offences Investigation Bureau (EOW) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday made a significant breakthrough in the coal levy scam investigation by filing a 1,200-page supplementary chargesheet against accused Rakesh Jain in a special court in Raipur.
The chargesheet contains several documents and pieces of evidence accusing Jain of offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The charges include criminal conspiracy, cheating, extortion, and forgery.
Rakesh Jain is currently lodged in Raipur Central Jail.
Money laundering through shell firms
According to the investigation, the illegal coal levy was mainly collected in cash. For individuals who could not pay in cash, the prime accused Suryakant Tiwari allegedly arranged shell companies to facilitate the transactions.
Investigators found that Rakesh Jain used these companies and multiple bank accounts to give a legitimate appearance to illegal funds.
The bureau stated that Jain managed the routing and layering of nearly ₹40 crore through banking channels, which was later converted into cash and delivered to Suryakant Tiwari.
The process allegedly involved:
- Issuing fake bills for various business expenses
- Transferring money through multiple bank accounts to hide the original source
- Moving large sums to firms linked to Anwar Dhebar, including Star Traders and Mahavir Enterprises
Links to liquor scam
The EOW-ACB investigation also found Jain’s alleged involvement in the state’s liquor scam. He reportedly provided bank entries to individuals and companies associated with Anwar Dhebar through his network to help layer illegal funds.
Jain already faces three criminal cases registered by Raipur police. A chargesheet has been filed in one case, while two other cases are still under investigation.
Earlier chargesheets in the case
Earlier, in July 2024, the first chargesheet in the coal levy case named 15 accused, including Saumya Chaurasiya, Ranu Sahu, Sameer Vishnoi, Shiv Shankar Nag, Sandeep Kumar Nayak, Suryakant Tiwari, Nikhil Chandrakar, Laxmikant Tiwari, Hemant Jaiswal, Chandraprakash Jaiswal, Sheikh Moinuddin Qureshi, Parakh Kurre, Rahul Singh, Roshan Kumar Singh, and Virendra Jaiswal.
Later, in October 2024, another supplementary chargesheet was filed against Manish Upadhyay and Rajnikant Tiwari.
