Ahmedabad, Dec. 7 -- A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ahmedabad on Saturday convicted former IAS officer Pradeep Sharma for money laundering and sentenced him to five years imprisonment. The court held that Sharma had abused his position to allot government land in Bhuj to Welspun India Ltd. and its group companies at rates far below those fixed by the State, generating proceeds of crime that were later projected as lawful. The 195-page judgment was delivered by Principal District and Sessions Judge and Designated Special Judge (PMLA) Kamal Sojitra. Sharma, 71, was taken into custody after the order. The court also fined him Rs.50,000. The order recorded that Sharma is already serving a sentence awarded on January 20, 2025, in a sessions court under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment in that case. The court held that Sharma, as district collector of Bhuj from 2003 to 2006, misused his office by allotting land to Welspun India Ltd. at rates far below the government rate, generating about Rs.1.20 crore in proceeds later projected as untainted through his wife's accounts. According to the judgment, the benefit arising from these allotments was returned through payments routed into the accounts of Sharma's wife, Shyamal P Sharma. The prosecution showed that Rs.2,817,407 received in the name of his wife which was later transferred into Sharma's accounts. The court accepted the prosecution's case on layering of funds. The judgment states that Sharma "sent around Rs.1 crore of proceeds of crime by way of Hawala transaction from India to the US and around $35,950 through one Ravin Jhunjhunwala". Deposits were made into his wife's bank account in the US from persons including Gurnam Singh Juneja....