Ex-IAS Officer Pradeep Sharma Gets 5-Year Jail Term for Money Laundering Scandal

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A special court in Ahmedabad has convicted former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Pradeep Sharma for money laundering, sentencing him to five years in prison. The 71-year-old was found guilty of misusing his position to allot government land at below-market rates to Welspun India Ltd. and its group companies, generating proceeds of crime worth over ₹1.20 crore. According to the court's 195-page judgment, Sharma, who was district collector of Bhuj from 2003 to 2006, abused his power to allot land at rates as low as ₹15-18 per square meter, causing a loss of ₹1.20 crore to the state. The benefit from these allotments was returned through payments routed into the accounts of Sharma's wife, Shyamal P Sharma. The court found that Sharma had used a Hawala transaction to send around ₹1 crore of proceeds of crime to the US and had also made deposits into his wife's bank account in the US from various individuals. During the trial, the court examined 28 prosecution witnesses, including a director of Welspun who testified that Sharma used a SIM card provided by the company. The court rejected Sharma's plea for a concurrent sentence, citing his age and the link between the corruption and PMLA cases. Special Public Prosecutor SK Gupta argued that the two offenses arise under different laws and that money laundering is an offense against the nation, warranting no leniency. The court held that Sharma's conduct 'disentitles him' from concurrency and that neither age nor antecedents justified any discretion. The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on Sharma and directed the confiscation of all properties attached by the Enforcement Directorate, including his Gandhinagar house and agricultural land in Dehgam. Sharma, who is already serving a sentence awarded in a sessions court under the Prevention of Corruption Act, faces nearly a dozen corruption-related FIRs. This latest conviction brings to light the severity of the money laundering scandal and the need for strong action against those who abuse their power for personal gain.