First conviction in PMLA case

Ranchi: In the first money laundering conviction in the country, former Jharkhand minister Hari Narayan Rai has been sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 5 lakh by a special court here.

The maiden conviction, ordered on Monday by the court of special judge B.K. Tiwari, has come after the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was enforced 12 years ago and it saw Rai, former state Chief Minister Madhu Koda’s cabinet colleague, being convicted for laundering funds to the tune of over Rs 3.72 crore.

The money laundering case pertains to the money laundering probe involving Mr Koda and others and was unearthed by the agency in September 2009 in which a number of arrests were made and assets worth hundreds of crores were attached.

“Mr Rai, as minister in the Jharkhand government, during the period 2005-08 laundered his illegal income through purchase and acquisition of various assets by misappropriation of public money and using the same for his personal benefits,” the Enforcement Direc-torate said in a statement issued after the order of conviction.

Mr Rai, elected as an MLA from the Jarmundi Assembly seat in Dumka district, held Cabinet portfolios like that of tourism development, urban development, rural works and forests not only in the Koda cabinet but also in the government of former Chief Ministers like Arjun Munda and Shibu Soren.