NEW DELHI: It was not the sort of work that is associated with state machinery. The court of additional sessions judge Shefali Barnala Tandon (of the Patiala House courts) was convened at her residence around 3 am on Friday to remand a person accused of money laundering, Swaraj Singh Yadav, in ED's custody. Yadav, who is the promoter of Ocean Seven Buildtech Pvt Ltd, is accused of illegally selling PM Awas Yojana flats in Gurgaon in all-cash transactions.After a daylong search, Yadav was held by the agency before midnight on Thursday. ED's move came in connection with the alleged laundering of more than Rs 222 crore of funds generated from illegal sale of apartments meant for the poor under PM Awas Yojana. These were sold at an inflated price of Rs 40-50 lakh each to new buyers by cheating the original allottees whose allotment was cancelled, with not even their deposits being refunded. The original cost of a flat was Rs 26.5 lakh.Realtor running 'nationwide laundering scam', says ED Using these funds, ED said, the accused acquired personal assets, including 500 acres at Ware village in Maharashtra, 100 acres on Pune-Alibag Road, Sai Rupa Resorts in Tirthan Valley in Himachal Pradesh and land in Boston (US), besides financial assets in the UK."The search for the arrestee started at 6.55 am, and he has to be produced before the court within 24 hours of the search, as per the guidelines of Supreme Court and various high courts," the ED submitted before the judge while producing the accused "at this odd hour" at her residence.The legal counsel of the accused was still on his way when the court began its proceedings at 3.05 am, and by the time the hearings from both the sides concluded, it was 6.30 am. The judge remanded the accused in ED's custody till Nov 28, when he is to be produced again. Not taking a chance, the judge specifically instructed that the accused be brought before the court at 2 pm on that day.The ED accused Yadav of committing "a nationwide money laundering scam since 2006, duping thousands of buyers in Mumbai, Jaipur, Kotputli and Gurugram". As per FIRs registered against him with the Delhi police, an estimated Rs 222 crore of homebuyers' money was siphoned by the accused after layering them through a related "in-house construction agency"."The concerted and accelerated liquidation of both personal and company-held assets by arrestee Swaraj Singh Yadav in the recent past strongly indicates his intent to dispose of the proceeds of crime and escape action under provisions of law. The investigation records confirm the urgent disposal of assets and liquidation of funds in anticipation of legal action. He had already sold a flat in Jalvayu Vihar in Gurugram, 40 acres of land in Borgaon, Maharashtra, and 15 acres in Jaipur," the ED said."This coincides with his wife Sunita Swaraj relocating to the US in Aug 2025," the agency added and brought to the notice of the court the fact that the accused had transferred huge amounts to the US via a bank account of his wife's in Bank of Baroda. With his children pursuing graduation from Trinity College, Connecticut, US, there is every possibility of his fleeing from justice, the agency said.