The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth more than ₹7.54 crore belonging to R. Selvaraj and his family members under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in a red sanders smuggling case.
According to a statement by the ED, the attached assets include eight residential plots in Aathoor and Pudhu Erumaivettipalayam and Red Hills, six plots of agricultural land at Vallakottai village, Sriperumbudur, two houses in Venus Colony and Krishna Nagar in Puducherry and movable properties worth ₹2.07 crore in the form of assets of Sanjana Metalware India Pvt. Ltd.
The ED initiated money laundering investigations on the basis of an FIR filed by the Andhra Pradesh (AP) police and commissionerate of customs, Chennai. Subsequently, a chargesheet and a prosecution complaint were filed by the A.P. Police and prosecution wing of Chennai Customs Department respectively against Selvaraj and others before the Competent Courts in Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh and in Chennai.
Investigation revealed that Selvaraj was involved in several cases of smuggling of red sanders. He invested the money so earned in immovable properties and as paid-up capital and unsecured loans in Sanjana Metalware India Pvt. Ltd. This was done to layer the proceeds of the crime. Investigation established that the assets were illegally acquired and the same had been attached under the PMLA.
