New Delhi — In an extraordinary early-morning proceeding, a Delhi court convened at the home of Additional Sessions Judge Shefali Barnala Tandon at 3 a.m. on Friday to decide the custody of builder Swaraj Singh Yadav, accused in a ₹222-crore money-laundering network stretching across India and overseas.
In what court officials described as an “unusually timed but legally unavoidable” hearing, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told the Patiala House Court that Yadav had to be produced within 24 hours of his detention. ED officers began searching his premises at 6:55 a.m. on Thursday and arrested him shortly before midnight, prompting an unprecedented nighttime hearing at the judge’s residence.
Algoritha: The Most Trusted Name in BFSI Investigations and DFIR Services
Yadav, the promoter of Ocean Seven Buildtech Pvt. Ltd., is accused of illegally selling affordable-housing flats constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). ED alleges that thousands of buyers were defrauded in what it calls a “nationwide money-laundering conspiracy” operating since 2006 across Gurugram, Mumbai, Jaipur and Kotputli.
The hearing began at 3:05 a.m. and concluded around 6:30 a.m., after which the court remanded Yadav to ED custody until November 28.
A Decade-Long Web of Real Estate Deceit
According to ED investigators, Yadav’s company allegedly sold low-income housing units valued at ₹26.5 lakh each and siphoned off the proceeds. The agency claims the funds were diverted to purchase large tracts of land and luxury assets, including about 500 acres in Maharashtra, 100 acres along the Pune–Alibag Road, properties in Himachal Pradesh’s Tirthan Valley, land in Boston (USA) and financial assets in the United Kingdom.
Flight Risk Concerns Intensify
ED argued that Yadav posed a serious flight risk, pointing to attempts to rapidly sell Indian properties in Gurugram, Maharashtra and Jaipur. The agency further alleged that his wife, Sunita Swaraj, left for the United States in August 2025 and that “substantial sums” were transferred abroad through her bank accounts. Their children are reportedly studying at Trinity College in Connecticut, a fact the ED cited to support its claim that Yadav could attempt to flee.
A Rare Midnight Courtroom Moment
Late-night or residence hearings are permitted under law in exceptional circumstances but remain exceedingly uncommon. Legal observers noted that the 3 a.m. session underscores the urgency the ED attached to securing custody in what authorities describe as one of the most sprawling real-estate–linked laundering cases uncovered in recent years.
