The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has frozen the property in which a palatial bungalow is being built by family members of V. Ashok Kumar, brother of jailed Minister V. Senthilbalaji, at Andankoil East on the Karur-Salem Road, in Karur.
Mr. Kumar’s family is allegedly constructing the huge bungalow on a plot measuring 2.49 acres, where ED officials conducted checks on Wednesday.
In a notice served to A. Nirmala, wife of Mr. Kumar, Brijesh Beniwal, the Assistant Director of Enforcement Directorate, said that the action of freezing the property had been taken under section 17 (1-A) of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The property should not be transferred or otherwise dealt with without the prior permission of the office of the Joint Director of Enforcement Directorate of Chennai Zonal Office.
According to the ED, the property was registered in the name of Nirmala in the documents numbered 7628 and 9645 in 2022 in the Mela Karur Sub Registrar Office. During the investigation, it was revealed that the land was acquired by P Lakshmi. mother-in-law of Mr. Kumar, from Anuradha Ramesh for a paltry sum of ₹10 lakh, as against its market value of more than ₹30 crore. However, while scrutinising the income source of Ms. Lakshmi, it was revealed that she lacked any credible means of income. Her assertion of selling old jewellery to secure ₹10 lakhs for the land purchase was proven to be fictitious. Subsequently, she gifted the parcel of land to her daughter Nirmala.
Upon further investigation, the ED said the remaining sum required for the land acquisition was paid in cash to Ms. Anuradha. The cash, in turn, was used by her to procure another piece of land in the same vicinity. Considering these developments, the property registered in the name of Ms. Nirmala had been placed under a freeze order .
According to sources, the ED officials, who were still camping in Karur after carrying out a search operation on Wednesday, have sent a communication to the Sub-Registrar of Mela Karur on the freezing of the property.
The ED officials had earlier served a summon to Ms. Nirmala, asking her to present at the property with all related documents by Wednesday evening. However, she did not turn up. The ED officials thereafter issued the order freezing the property.
The action comes when Mr. Senthilbalaji is subject to interrogation in Chennai after being taken into 5-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate. He was arrested in a money laundering case on June 14.
Mr. Kumar, Ms. Nirmala and Ms. Lakshmi, who have been summoned repeatedly by the Enforcement Directorate, were yet to appear before the officials.
