The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Sadhna Group chairman and managing director Rakesh Gupta in a money-laundering case involving alleged proceeds of crime worth about ₹168 crore.
Gupta, 63, was arrested late on October 9 from Ishwar Farms in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj and produced before a court early on October 10.
A Delhi court has remanded him to five days of ED custody and directed that he be produced again by 4 PM on October 15.
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Case Stems From Delhi Police EOW FIR
The ED investigation is based on an FIR registered by the Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing on September 29.
The FIR includes allegations of cheating and criminal breach of trust, among other offences.
Gupta has been named as the second accused in that case.
Sadhna Group operates Sadhna TV and other related media networks.
ED Alleges Insolvency Process Was Engineered
A central part of the ED’s case concerns the insolvency of Sadhna Media Pvt Ltd.
The agency alleges that Gupta engineered the insolvency process through related creditors that together controlled 99.41% of the committee of creditors.
According to ED, this allowed income-tax dues of ₹110.10 crore to be settled for just ₹20 lakh.
The allegation raises questions about whether the insolvency process was used to benefit promoter-linked entities at the expense of legitimate creditors.
Agency Traces Cash, Hawala and Crypto Links
ED has also alleged that around ₹2.50 crore to ₹2.82 crore was received in cash through USDT and hawala channels after the resale of Sadhna Media, also known as Aryan TV.
The agency further claims that Sadhna Media paid ₹4.48 crore to connected creditors.
Of that amount, nearly ₹2.99 crore allegedly went to Sharpline Broadcast Ltd, a company linked to Gupta.
Investigators are now trying to trace the cash and understand how the crypto and hawala settlements were structured.
SEBI Case Also Forms Part of ED’s Allegations
The ED has referred to a final Securities and Exchange Board of India order from May 2025 involving Sadhna Broadcast Ltd.
SEBI had identified Gupta as the alleged mastermind behind manipulation in the company’s shares and held him jointly and severally liable for about ₹58 crore.
The ED is using that earlier finding as part of its broader assessment of alleged proceeds of crime.
The criminal and money-laundering allegations, however, remain subject to investigation and court proceedings.
ED Seeks Records From Phones, Offices and Overseas Receipts
The agency told the court that custody was required to trace several financial entries and transactions.
These include the nearly ₹2.99 crore allegedly routed to Sharpline Broadcast and ₹8.98 crore shown as payable to Saroj Construction and Graphisads without a corresponding bank trail.
ED also wants to examine data from Gupta’s seized iPhone 13 Pro and iPad Pro and confront him with statements recorded from other individuals on October 9.
Investigators are also looking at telecast receipts in Dubai and Sydney, books and demat records kept at the group’s Gol Market office and the role of Saroj Constwell Pvt Ltd.
Court Limits Custody to Five Days
The ED had sought seven days of custody.
Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler granted five days instead, taking into account Gupta’s age and the specific investigative tasks listed by the agency.
The court also noted that Gupta was produced within the statutory time after his arrest and after the grounds of arrest had been furnished.
The custody order allows ED to question Gupta while it traces the alleged financial network and examines company records.
What this means for you
The case is significant because it combines alleged share manipulation, insolvency-process misuse, hawala and crypto-linked payments in one investigation. But the ₹168 crore figure is still ED’s prima facie assessment of alleged proceeds of crime, and Gupta has not been convicted.
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