Sep 21 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Enforcement Directorate’s Chennai Zonal Office-II has seized Rs 82 lakh in cash, luxury vehicles and documents allegedly connected to benami properties after searches in a bank fraud case involving M/s PGC Corporation Limited.
The searches were conducted on September 18 at six locations in Chennai and Tiruppur under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Digital devices and property records were recovered during the operation and will be examined as part of the investigation, the agency said.
The ED has not disclosed the number or value of the vehicles seized, the identities of people whose premises were searched, or the scale of the alleged loss suffered by the bank. It also did not provide details of the original police or agency case on which its money-laundering investigation is based.
Investigators are expected to examine the seized electronic material and financial records to trace the movement of funds and determine whether money allegedly obtained through the bank fraud was diverted into vehicles, real estate or assets held in the names of other people.
Under the PMLA, assets identified as proceeds of crime may be provisionally attached, subject to confirmation through the adjudication process.
The ED said further investigation in the PGC Corporation case was continuing. The seizures do not by themselves establish guilt, and those involved are entitled to contest the allegations and any attachment proceedings before the authorities and courts.
The operation is the latest in a series of ED actions in Tamil Nadu.
Earlier this month, the agency searched 18 properties in Chennai, Nagapattinam and Ramanathapuram linked to three accused in narcotics and drug-smuggling cases originally investigated by the Narcotics Control Bureau.
Those searches focused on suspected laundering of money generated through illegal drug trafficking. In an earlier open-space reservation land case, searches at 15 locations in Chennai, Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram led to seizures valued at Rs 18.10 crore. They included Rs 1.56 crore in cash, gold, bank balances and shares. The case concerned allegations that public-purpose land was sold using forged records and inflated valuations.
The agency had also carried out searches in the TASMAC case, including at the corporation’s headquarters and premises connected to distilleries and breweries. That investigation arose from corruption cases registered over alleged irregularities in Tamil Nadu’s liquor trade.
Source: IANS
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