The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it had seized 209 excavator trucks worth millions of rupees as part of a money laundering probe against others involved in “illegal” sand mining in Tamil Nadu.
An interim order has been issued for seizure of assets totaling Rs 130. 60 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Of this, the 209 sand excavators cost Rs 128. 34 crore, while the budget of Rs 2. 25 crore is deposited into 35 bank accounts belonging to Americans named Shanmugam Ramachandran, Karuppaiah Rethinam, Paneerselvam Karikalan and others who are involved in “illegal” sand mining. activities in Tamil Nadu, the ED said in a statement.
The agency said its money laundering case stems from various FIRs filed by Tamil Nadu Police and ”information gleaned from open sources indicating widespread unauthorised sand mining along river beds and basins of the state”.
During the investigation, it was discovered that the three Americans mentioned above, in combination with their associates, had formed a “syndicate” and established a network of corporations and businesses, either under their own name or that of their relatives and associates. saying.
These entities were found to be involved in illicit sand mining in the state, the ED claimed.
The federal firm said it has undertaken a “comprehensive” review of all sand quarries in Tamil Nadu to assess the prestige of mining sites.
The specialized team’s report highlighted moments of “excessive and illegal” sand mining, more than the volume recorded in state government records, according to the report.
The ED claimed that an investigation into geofencing reports submitted through brands and suppliers of excavators used in illegal sand mining revealed that the excavators were basically deployed “beyond the legal domain of the quarry”.
This unequivocally confirmed the occurrence of illegal and excessive sand mining activities, it said.
The firm said it had earlier raided around 17 premises in this case in Chennai, Trichy and Pudukottai and seized “undeclared” money worth Rs 2. 33 crore, gold jewelery price of Rs 56. 86 lakh and many other “incriminating” evidence.
About 30 bank accounts with a cumulative balance of around Rs 13 crore were also frozen then, it said.
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