ED Traces Massive ₹750 Crore Money Trail Against Kingpin Gyan Chand Jaiswal

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its investigation into a colossal tax evasion and money laundering syndicate operating under the guise of an iron scrap trading business in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. What began as a ₹55.66 crore bogus Input Tax Credit (ITC) fraud detected by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has now expanded into a massive money laundering network exceeding ₹750 crore. Central agency sleuths are aggressively tracking illicit financial flows under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after key accused businessman Gyanchand Jaiswal secured bail in the original case, exposing how a sprawling fraud empire was constructed through paper shell entities.The June 2024 Arrest: How the ₹55.66 Crore Fake ITC Racket CollapsedThe criminal syndicate first came under federal scrutiny when intelligence wings detected non-existent commercial consignments:Initial Arrest by DGGI: The Jamshedpur regional unit of DGGI apprehended Gyanchand Jaiswal in June 2024 for engineering a ₹55.66 crore fake ITC scam and sent him to judicial custody.Paper-Only Iron Scrap Transactions: Investigations revealed that the accused orchestrated large-scale financial deceit by churning out fake tax invoices without physical movement or actual supply of goods like iron scrap.Network of Shell Companies: Probe teams mapped fraudulent operational links across multiple ghost entities including Jai Bholanath Company, Maa Sharda Endeavor, Makers Casting, Kedarnath Traxine, and Gyandeep Iron, which existed purely on paper to claim and pass illicit tax rebates.PMLA Takeover: Following Jaiswal's release on bail, the ED stepped in to trace the broader money trail, uncovering that the scam's true scale far exceeded initial estimates and surpassed ₹750 crore across multiple states.Benami Real Estate and Kolkata Investments Under Central ScannerED investigators have uncovered a complex financial laundering web designed to convert illicit tax gains into clean, tangible assets:Diversion into Real Estate: Primary findings indicate that black money accumulated through fraudulent ITC claims was systematically funneled into benami plots, high-value real estate parcels, and luxury commercial establishments across Kolkata.Raid on Auditor Sanjay Parekh: In an aggressive push to bust the white-collar support network, ED teams raided the residential and professional premises of auditor Sanjay Parekh, confiscating incriminating records.Forged Identities and Bank Operations: Enforcement officers seized critical documentary evidence documenting dummy directors, fabricated signature stamps, and manipulated bank accounts used to shuffle crores of rupees between shell accounts.Widening Net for Industrialists: Financial investigators are currently cross-referencing ledger entries and seized digital communications to identify prominent regional industrialists and scrap magnates who purchased fake billing invoices to launder untaxed corporate income.