The mounting charges on journalist Upendra Rai

On August 29, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached over Rs 26.65 crore worth of properties in connection with a money laundering case. The properties belonged to journalist Upendra Rai and were spread across Delhi-NCR and Uttar Pradesh. The other assets attached by the ED include three luxury cars apart from bank deposits and mutual funds.

Rai is being probed by the Central Burea of Investigation (CBI) and ED for allegedly extorting money from businessmen on the pretext of helping them settle cases of the Income Tax Department and other agencies, The Indian Express reported.

Rai’s properties were attached a day after the Supreme Court dismissed his plea seeking to restrain ED officer Rajeshwar Singh from investigating cases against him. Rai had alleged that he was being probed because of allegations of corruption that he had made against Singh. According to the documents accessed by Newslaundry, Rai had written to at least 15 people expressing his concerns about Singh. Among others, these correspondences were also marked to the top brass of the ED, and Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia.

According to Express, the Law Ministry has also allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation to book Rai under the Official Secrets Act. “Call data records of businessmen and nearly 140 classified Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) were found in Rai’s possession,” the report adds. However, as per FIU rules, STRs are only meant to be accessed by concerned authorities. They are not even disclosed under the Right To Information Act.

The former journalist was arrested by the CBI on May 3 “for obtaining an aerodrome entry pass (AEP) — that gave him access to all airports across the country — from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security by giving fake credentials”, NDTV reported. Subsequently, he secured a bail, but was arrested on June 8 by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

NDTV‘s latest report has raised more questions about Rai. In its August 31 report, the channel stated that ED was probing “whether chartered planes were used to ferry truckloads of cash in and outside the country.” According to the report, over the course of the probe, investigators have found at least a few instances where “chartered planes used by VIPs were modified with cubbyholes”. The report further states that investigators suspect Rai and an aviation engineer were working together to “create invisible pockets in planes, where cash could be stashed and carried undetected”.

Rai is associated with Air One, the report states. According to a Times of India report, in January 2017, “Rai had applied for issuance of AEP in the capacity of a consultant of Air One, falsely showing himself as a permanent employee.”