The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against jailed former Punjab minister and AAP MLA Sanjeev Arora, accusing him of masterminding a money laundering scheme worth over ₹102 crore linked to fraudulent Goods and Services Tax (GST) transactions involving fake mobile phone export bills. Arora was arrested by the ED on May 9, 2026, and is currently in judicial custody. He has filed a plea seeking regular bail in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Charge Sheet Details and Alleged Modus Operandi
According to the charge sheet filed in a Gurugram court, the investigation revealed that Hampton Sky Realty Limited (HSRL), formerly known as M/s Ritesh Properties and Industries Limited (RPIL) and co-accused in the case, operated under the control and direction of Arora, who serves as its promoter-director. The ED alleges that HSRL orchestrated a complex trade-based money laundering scheme through false and bogus mobile phone export transactions.
The scheme involved routing funds through shell and accommodation-entry entities without genuine supply of goods, creating a fictitious and operationally impossible supply chain of mobile phones. The ED charge sheet states that the company inflated export values to claim incentives and GST benefits, and used pre-funded export remittances and group-entity investments to project illicit funds as legitimate business income and capital.
Three-Layered Operation
The modus operandi operated in three interconnected layers: creation of a false domestic procurement trail, manipulation of export documentation and customs processes, and integration of funds through export remittances, GST refunds, and investments into group entities and immovable properties. HSRL purportedly purchased high-value Apple iPhones and other electronic devices from multiple supplier entities such as M/s SK Enterprises, M/s Global Traders, M/s Worldwide Electronics, M/s GMG Tradelink Pvt. Ltd., M/s Shree Lakshmi Enterprises, M/s Mobile Style, M/s US Enterprises, M/s Anjani International, M/s Maruti Nandan Telecom LLP, and others.
Detailed examination of these entities and statements recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 established that several of them were shell or accommodation-entry concerns with negligible or no genuine business activity. The charge sheet notes that these entities were used purely as vehicles for routing and layering funds against cash.
Staff Testimonies Confirm No Physical Goods
Statements of key HSRL staff confirmed that no physical receipt, storage, or inspection of mobile phones ever took place. Employees admitted that they handled only invoices, e-way bills, and banking documentation and had no knowledge of the actual existence or movement of goods. The company staff also admitted that no purchase orders were issued to suppliers and that communications were largely through WhatsApp, with no verifiable records.
The evidence demonstrates that HSRL and its associates created a fabricated domestic procurement chain through shell entities. The investigation has, at this stage, quantified proceeds of crime of ₹102,99,21,974 arising from the fictitious export transactions undertaken through 43 shipping bills.
Arora's Role as Key Decision-Maker
The probe also revealed that Sanjeev Arora was the key decision-maker behind the mobile phone export business carried out by Hampton Sky Realty Limited, though the company was primarily engaged in the real estate sector. Material gathered during the investigation specifically revealed that Arora was the authorized signatory of the ICICI Bank account maintained for the mobile division, and that the said account was used for receipt of approximately ₹102.50 crore of export proceeds constituting proceeds of crime.
The ED's charge sheet marks a significant step in the probe against Arora, who is a prominent AAP leader and former minister in the Punjab government. The case highlights the agency's focus on trade-based money laundering and GST fraud involving high-value electronic goods.
