On Saturday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets worth Rs 48.21 lakh of freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma, who also worked with The Quint, in connection with a case under the Official Secrets Act.
According to the reports, a money-laundering investigation has been initiated against Rajeev Sharma. His Delhi’s Pitampura- based residential property has been seized by the authorities and his assets have been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Enforcement Directorate attaches assets worth over Rs 48 lakh belonging to Rajeev Sharma, journalist in connection with a money laundering investigation.
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) January 15, 2022
The attached asset is the residential property in the name of the journalist at Pitampura, New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/NI7FqDCB1l
The Enforcement Directorate had arrested freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma in July 2021 for supplying confidential and sensitive information to Chinese intelligence officers in exchange for remuneration.
The Delhi Police also has filed an FIR against Sharma and charged him under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Official Secrets Act, 1923. The initial probe revealed that Sharma had supplied confidential and sensitive information to the Chinese intelligence officers, in exchange for remuneration, thereby compromising the security and national interests of the country.
The further investigation by the ED pointed out that Sharma was being provided money by a Mahipalpur-based shell company that was run by Chinese nationals, Zhang Cheng aka Suraj, Zhang Lixia aka Usha and Qing Shi, along with a Nepalese national named Sher Singh alias Raj Bohara.
Reports mention that the said Chinese company was acting as a conduit for the Chinese intelligence agencies to provide remuneration to Rajeev Sharma. The remuneration was being paid in cash through carriers as well as through cash deposits. Rajeev Sharma also received money using the bank account of his friend in order to conceal his involvement in criminal activities, the agency said.
The freelance journalist had earlier worked with United News of India, The Tribune, Free Press Journal, Saakaal and others as a journalist. As a journalist, Rajeev Sharma was covering defence and foreign affairs for around two decades. He had written several columns for the Chinese newspaper Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China for the last several years. He had also written columns with left-wing publications such as The Quint, DailyO etc.
