The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties in two money laundering cases against two individuals, both connected with Opposition party leaders, ahead of the Assembly elections.
The ED issued a provisional attachment order on Friday, attaching two immovable properties of the former bureaucrat T.N. Chikkarayappa, worth ₹1.1 crore. Mr. Chikkarayappa, considered close to Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, has been actively working on his behalf in Kolar and is said to be a ticket aspirant from the party in one of the constituencies in Bengaluru. “Investigation revealed that Mr. Chikkarayappa during his government service with the help of other accused persons illegally accumulated disproportionate assets to the tune of ₹5.33 crore, which is 304.93% excess than the legal source of income,” the ED said in a statement.
Associate of Reddy
In another case, the ED recently provisionally attached 30 immovable assets of Kharapudi Mahesh, a close associate of G. Janardhana Reddy, who has quit the BJP and started his own Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha. These assets worth ₹54.18 crore are in Ballari, Vijayanagara, and Koppal districts and have been attached in a case related to illegal mining.
The ED claimed that the inquiry revealed that Mahesh and his family members transported and traded illegally mined ore worth ₹62.92 crore without valid permits or based on forged permits and collected risk money ₹40.93 crore for transportation of illegally mined ore by others. “Most of the amount was received in cash and the same was used in the acquisition of immovable properties,” the ED said in a statement.
Coop. bank case
In another case, the Special Court (PMLA) has taken cognisance of the prosecution complaint filed by the ED and issued summons to all accused persons in a money laundering case against Mohamed Asadulla and others and his company Al-Ameen Housing Development Company Ltd., in the case of bank fraud in Amanath Cooperative Bank Ltd.
“Investigation by the ED revealed that during the years 1985 to 2002, the accused persons misappropriated the funds of Amanath bank by allegedly sanctioning huge amounts of loans to non-existent and fictitious account holders, passing cheques, and overdraft accounts fraudulently and defrauding the bank and by using the said funds for their personal purpose and investing the same in immovable properties in their name and in the name of their relatives,” the ED said in a statement. The present market value of immovable assets provisionally attached in the case is ₹243.93 crore.