The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday secured the first-ever conviction under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which came into force in 2005, with a Ranchi special court sentencing former Jharkhand Minister Hari Narayan Rai to seven years imprisonment in a corruption case.
The court also levied a fine of ₹5 lakh on him, besides confirming the attachment of his assets, currently worth about ₹3 crore.
Last year, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ranchi had sentenced Mr. Rai for owning assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. His wife Sushila Devi and brother Sanjay Rai were convicted for abetment.
The State Vigilance Department had initially registered a case against Mr. Rai and filed a charge-sheet in 2008. He was later arrested. The ED also launched a money laundering probe into the allegations of corruption and disproportionate assets. The CBI took over the probe in 2009 and filed another charge-sheet in 2012.
He has been accused of misappropriating public funds for personal benefit.
