INDIA. Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken possession of 15 immovable properties registered in the name of M/s Kovai Shelters Promoters India Private Limited, located in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
These properties are owned by DMK MP and former Union Cabinet Minister of Environment and Forests, A. Raja (59), in a significant development that occurred on Tuesday.
These properties have been attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in connection with a case involving disproportionate assets. The action was taken after the PMLA’s Adjudicating Authority confirmed the irregularities.
During his tenure as a minister from 2004 to 2007, Raja allegedly granted Environmental Clearances to a real estate company based in Gurugram, Haryana, which is one of the largest real estate companies in the country and is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The real estate company purportedly provided kickbacks to the minister in 2007, under the guise of land commission income to his benami company, in exchange for the Environmental Clearance.
The minister had established the company in 2007 in the names of his family members and a close family friend, with the primary purpose of using it as a means to conceal the proceeds of criminal activities. The said company never engaged in any business activities from its inception.
ED’s investigation has established that the properties, encompassing 45 acres of land in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, with an estimated value of around Rs. 55 crore, were directly purchased using the proceeds of crime generated by Raja, as stated in an official statement.
In light of this, the ED invoked the provisions of Section 8(4) of the PMLA and took possession of these properties via a Provisional Attachment Order dated December 20.
This action was subsequently confirmed by the PMLA’s Adjudicating Authority in Delhi through an order dated June 1.
A smuggler of red sanders
In another case, the ED has filed a prosecution complaint under the PMLA against a habitual smuggler of red sanders, R. Selvaraj, along with M/s Sanjana Metalware India Pvt. Ltd., P. Vishnu Anand, and D. L. Madhusudhan. This complaint is related to a case of red sanders smuggling that is pending before the Special PMLA Court in Visakhapatnam.
The ED initiated the investigation based on an FIR registered at Narayanavanam Police Station in S. Chittoor under the Andhra Pradesh Police, involving various sections of the IPC, Wildlife Protection Act, Biological Diversity Act, and Arms Act.
The case pertains to alleged possession and smuggling of red sandalwood and related activities. Subsequently, multiple FIRs against R. Selvaraj and others were registered by the Andhra Pradesh Police under IPC and other acts, including the AP State Forest Act.
ED’s investigation revealed that R. Selvaraj was a habitual offender involved in smuggling red sanders and other criminal activities, amassing substantial proceeds of crime.
He invested these illicit gains in acquiring several properties in his name and in the names of his family members, as well as in his family-owned company, M/s Sanjana Metalware India Pvt. Ltd.
Earlier, ED had attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs. 2.74 crore, belonging to R. Selvaraj, his family members, and M/s Sanjana Metalware India Pvt. Ltd., in March 2022.
These attachments were subsequently confirmed by the PMLA Adjudicating Authority in September 2022.
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