The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties, worth ₹36.3 crore, and a further ₹34.7 lakh available in the bank account of Udayanidhi Stalin Foundation in the case of Kallal Group and others defrauding the Lyca Group of ₹300 crore. Investigations revealed that the foundation had received the proceeds of crime worth ₹1 crore. The ED initiated investigations on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Crime Branch-I, Chennai.
It alleged that the complainant (Gaurav Chachra, Director of M/s Pettigo Commercio Internacional Lda, a subsidiary of the U.K.-based Lyca Group, having significant presence in India in form of Lyca Productions, Lyca Hotels etc.,) had been defrauded of ₹114.37 crore by Kallal Group and its directors/founders — Saravanan Palaniappan, Vijaykumaran, Aravinth Raj and Vijay Ananth, along with Lakshmi Muthuraman and Preetha Vijayananth.
Investigations revealed that the fraud is actually of an amount of ₹300 crore as the Lyca Group had also made other investments/loans to the accused and its entities without any due diligence or rationale. This resulted in searches at both the accused and complainants-related entities on April 27 and May 16, which found various incriminating evidence in the form of digital evidence, documents, properties, suspicious cash, and hawala transactions, still under the ED scanner.
On May 25, in order to secure part of the proceeds of crime, the ED provisionally attached various immovable properties across the State, valued at ₹36.3 crore, and further attached ₹34.7 lakh available in the bank account of the Udayanidhi Stalin Foundation as it received the proceeds of crime amounting to ₹1 crore. The trustees of the above said foundation failed to explain the rationale for the above receipt from the parties involved in the case.
Thus total proceeds of crime in the said case is around ₹300 crore, of which immovable properties valued at ₹36.3 crore and movable properties in the form of a bank account with an available balance of ₹34.7 lakh have been attached. Further investigation is in progress.
