Sanjay Rai 'Sherpuriya' with prominent leaders (img: Facebook)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against conman Sanjay Rai aka Sanjay Rai Sherpuriya on Aug 2 in the case of duping people under the pretence of working in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and forging documents. The Patiala House Court in New Delhi has taken cognizance of the chargesheet.

During the course of investigation, ED had raided 42 locations of the conman in various cities, including Gandhidham in Kutch, and seized assets worth ₹14.54 cr.

ED uncovers Sanjay Rai Sherpuriya’s fraudulent empire

A Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh police had arrested Sanjay Rai alias Sanjay Sherpuriya for committing frauds, under the pretence of working in the PMO in April.

Rai was arrested and was in ED custody from June 3 to 16.

The  chargesheet was filed on Aug 2 by the ED in Delhi’s Patiala high court against Rai, and a complaint has also been filed in this case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

The ED has raided several locations of the conman which include Gandhidham in Kutch, New Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Ghazipur, and Pune, and seized assets worth ₹14.54 cr.

Earlier, the ED had passed freezing orders and provisional attachment order for attachment and freezing of 19 movable properties worth ₹14.5 cr, including 18 bank accounts with a balance of around ₹13.96 cr and one movable property in the form of Mercedes AMG car worth around ₹58 lakh in the name of accused, his family members and entities where proceeds of crime were placed.

Kiran Patel-style frauds committed by the fraudster

In April this year, a conman named Kiran Patel from Ahmedabad, had posed as top-rated bureaucrat in Jammu & Kashmir was booked.

Rai is accused of scamming people in a similar manner, where he committed several frauds of nearly ₹14.54 cr by creating a false figure of himself as a PMO official.

A facade  to commit scams

Rai is accused of duping industrialist Gaurav Dalmia of ₹12 cr, under the false pretext of helping him evade an ED investigation.

Out of the ₹12 cr, ₹6 cr were received in Jan 2023 in the bank account of Youth Rural Entrepreneur Foundation (YREF), Rai’s not for profit company incorporated under Companies Act in 2019, from Dalmia Family Office Trust, wherein Gaurav Dalmia is trustee, under the guise of donation. Rai is accused of having forged documents to conceal the true nature of transactions.

In addition, ₹6 cr were received in cash from Dalmia which were subsequently layered and placed in the bank accounts of Rai’s sons Yash and Sujal under falsely accommodated entries.

ED has also mentioned other accusations against Rai, where he duped Mohit Singh and Naveen Kumar Malhotra of ₹1 cr each and Sunil Chand Goyal of ₹51.5 lakh.

All of these scams were committed by Rai by showing his close associations with top politicians and powerful people to the conned people.

Sanjay Rai Sherpuriya’s Gujarat connection

ED has raided 42 locations of this scammer and seized assets worth ₹14.5 cr. Gujarat’s Gandhidham is also included in these 42 locations. 

The conman had migrated to Gandhidham in Kutch from UP in search of employment. In fact, he started his career in Gandhidham, working as a hotel receptionist. 

(with inputs from IANS)

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