ED attaches Rs 35 lakh of Udayanidhi Stalin Foundation in money laundering case
May 27, 2023
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 27 : The Enforcement Directorate has attached Rs 34.7 lakh of Tamil Nadu's Udayanidhi Stalin Foundation in connection with a money laundering case, officials said on Saturday.
According to the officials, the ED initiated investigations on the basis of an FIR registered by Central Crime Branch-I, Chennai under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) wherein it was alleged that the complainant (Gaurav Chachra, Director of M/s Pettigo Commercio Internacional Lda, a subsidiary of the UK based Lyca Group having significant presence in India in form of Lyca Productions, Lyca Hotels etc.) had been defrauded of Rs 114.37 crore by the Kallal Group and its Directors/founders Saravanan Palaniappan, Vijaykumaran, Aravinth Raj and Vijay Ananth alongwith, Mrs Lakshmi Muthuraman and Mrs Preetha Vijayananth."
Investigations conducted by ED revealed that the fraud is actually of an amount of Rs 300 crore as the Lyca Group had also made other investments/ loans to the accused group and its entities without any due diligence or rationale.
This resulted in searches at both the accused and complainants-related entities on April 27, 2023, and May 16, 2023, and led to the discovery of various incriminating evidences in the form of digital evidences, documents, properties, suspicious cash and hawala transactions which is still under the ED scanner and investigations.
Meanwhile on May 25, 2023, in order to secure part of the proceeds of crime ED has provisionally attached various immovable properties across Tamil Nadu, valued at Rs 36.3 Crore and further attached Rs 34.7 lakh available in the bank account of M/s Udayanidhi Stalin Foundation as it received the proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 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 Rs 300 crore of which Immovable properties valued at Rs 36.3 Crore and movable properties are in the form of bank accounts with an available balance of Rs 34.7 Lakhs have been attached.
