ED raids close aide of suspended IAS officer Abhishek Prakash Singh in bribery and bank fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the residence of a close aide of suspended IAS officer Abhishek Prakash Singh on Thursday in connection with serious allegations of bribery and a Rs 4 crore bank fraud.

Former Invest Uttar Pradesh CEO Abhishek Prakash’s close aide Nikant Jain was arrested on March 20 by the Uttar Pradesh STF in a bribery case. He was accused of accepting bribes from investors while falsely claiming to act on behalf of the IAS officer. The case, registered at the Gomti Nagar police station, already has a 1600-page charge sheet. Although Jain was granted bail by the court in this case, he remains in jail in a separate FIR.

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In a fresh development, Nikant Jain, along with his brother Sukant Jain and Vaishali Jain, had been booked at Hazratganj police station based on a complaint from Indian Bank’s branch manager Ashish Jindal. The FIR accuses the Jain family of forgery and defrauding the bank of Rs 4 crore through a fraudulent loan.

The charges against them include criminal breach of trust (Section 409), cheating (Section 420), and forgery (Section 465) under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). All these offenses are non-bailable and fall under the category of serious crimes.

Nikant Jain is already facing multiple legal cases. The ED raid adds further momentum to the ongoing investigations. Authorities are also probing the involvement of other individuals in the bribery and loan fraud cases.