Following the raids carried out by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation in the residences of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, and three daughters of Lalu, a set of images showing cash collections by the Enforcement Directorate has gone viral across social media.
The post claims ED recovered “proceeds of crime” totalling up to Rs 600 crore from the recent raids in Mumbai, Patna, Ranchi, and New Delhi concerning the alleged land for job scam. Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav were accused of offering people jobs in the railway in exchange for parts of land acquired through gifting or at discounted rates for them and their families.
Claim:
The viral post shows a compilation of five images, where the first image shows a collection of currency notes arranged to spell the letters ‘ED’. The second image shows a collection of various jewellery items such as necklaces, pearls and earrings. The other images show boxes of jewellery and gold coins, and cash.
Another viral claim reads, “Some small items seized by the ED from the family of respected Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav ji, the messiah of the poor..”
Fact Check:
Image 1: Cash Heaps arranged to spell ED:
We conducted a reverse image search on the image showing cash heaps and came across a report by Hindustan Times published on September 11, 2022.
As per this report, the ED had carried out search operations under the provisions of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), 2002, on 10 September 2022 at six premises in Kolkata. This search operation concerns an investigation relating to a Mobile Gaming Application.
The ED raided six places in Kolkata concerning the money laundering case related to the mobile gaming application, in which cash amounting to Rs 18 crore cash was recovered. One of the people who were raided was Nesar Ahmed Khan, a businessman.
India Today carried the same photo in its report.
Images 2 and 3- Containers of jewellery:
We conducted a reverse image search and found the original images on the ED’s official Twitter page. In a tweet published on March 6, 2023, the ED notes, “ED has conducted searches and survey at 15 locations in Nagpur & Mumbai in relation to the investment fraud by Pankaj Mehadia, Lokesh & Kathik Jain. Unaccounted jewellery worth Rs 5.51 Crore and cash of 1.21 Crore have been seized. Further investigation is going on.”
Images 4 and 5: Boxes of Cash and Coins:
After a reverse image search, we came across this tweet by news agency ANI published on March 11, 2023. The tweet is in relation to the ED’s raids at 24 locations in connection to the alleged land-for-jobs scam.
As per the tweet, “ED conducted searches at 24 locations in the Railways Land for Job Scam, resulting in the recovery of unaccounted cash of Rs 1 Crore, foreign currency including US$ 1900, 540 gms gold bullion and more than 1.5 kg of gold jewellery: ED”
The tweet by ANI also adds that the searches by the ED resulted in the detection of “Proceeds of Crime amounting to Rs 600 Crore approximately at this point in time”.
We also came across a tweet by the ED published on March 11, 2023, which noted that the authority searched 24 locations across the country in the Railways Land for Job Scam.
The raids led to the recovery of unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore, foreign currency including US$ 1900, 540 gms gold bullion and more than 1.5 kg of gold jewellery.
Conclusion:
We found that the viral set of images is not connected to the raids carried out on former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s residences. The Enforcement Directorate has not yet released the images related to the raids, but a tweet from March 11 notes that an investigation into the scam is underway. No evidence proves that these photos were taken at Lalu Yadav’s residence.
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Fact Check
2023-03-15 10:29:28.0
Do These Images Show The Haul After Enforcement Directorate’s Raid On Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Residence? No, Viral Claims Are Misleading!
