New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Chennai Zonal Office has provisionally attached immovable properties valued at Rs 1.26 crore located in Thoothukudi, Madurai and Chennai under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 belonging to Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister Anitha R. Radhakrishnan and others, involved in the offence of Money Laundering.
ED initiated investigation on the basis of a FIR registered by the Directorate of Vigilance and AntiCorruption (DVAC), Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu invoking Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against Anitha R. Radhakrishnan, for acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income in the name of his family members, the probe agency said in a statement.
Subsequently, the DVAC filed a final report/chargesheet before the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate and Special Judge, Thoothukudi, for acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income to the tune of Rs. 2.07 crore (approximately) considering the check period from May 14, 2001, to March 31, 2006. During the investigation, in 2022, ED provisionally attached 18 immovable properties valued at Rs one crore (approximately) which were found to be involved in money laundering, the statement said.
ED investigations revealed that Anitha R. Radhakrishnan and his family members are still in possession and enjoyment of Proceeds of Crime (POC) viz. disproportionate assets amassed during the check period and further derived benefits from the POC obtained directly by commission of schedule offence, the statement said.
Further, a part POC was also found invested in various firms i.e. placed in the financial system and laundered by layering in the form of cash deposits and by obtaining loan which was further repaid by cash so as to project the same as untainted and was finally integrated by generating huge profits from the said firms and acquiring more immovable properties during the period subsequent to the check period, the statement added.
During the course of investigation, it was found that Anitha R. Radhakrishnan and his family members generated Rs. 17.74 crore (approximately) of subsequent total POC (acquired by Anitha R. Radhakrishnan and his family members after the check period), derived indirectly out of the properties that were already attached and found to be involved in money laundering, it said.
Further, most of the above-mentioned immovable properties were acquired by the family members of Anitha R. Radhakrishnan, directly from the funds generated from the properties which were already attached by ED in 2022, which prima facie establishes that the transactions to acquire the said properties were sourced from the POC derived out of POC generated by the Anitha R. Radhakrishnan by commission of scheduled offence, it said.
