ED attaches red sander smuggler’s properties worth Rs 7.54 crore
Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth more than Rs.7.54 crore belonging to R. Selvaraj and his family members under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in red sanders smuggling case.
The attached assets include eight residential plots in Aathoor and Pudhu Erumaivettipalayam, Red Hills, Tamil Nadu, half a dozen plots of agricultural land in Vallakottai village, Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, and two house properties in Venus Colony, Chennai and Krishna Nagar, Saram Revenue Village in Pondicherry along with movable properties of Rs.2.07 crore in the form of assets of Sanjana Metalware India Private Limited. The ED initiated money laundering investigations on the basis of an FIR filed by AP police and the Commissionerate of Customs, Chennai.
Subsequently, charge-sheet and prosecution complaint were filed by the AP police and prosecution wing of Chennai Customs Department respectively, against Selvaraj and others before the competent courts in Chittoor, AP and Chennai. He was also detained under Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA) and has been charged with contraventions of Section 135, 132 of Customs Act and Wildlife Protection Act 1972, Biodiversity Act 2002, and Arms Act.
Investigation by ED revealed that Selvaraj was a habitual offender indulging in unlawful activities related to smuggling of red sanders and sandalwood and other criminal activities and earned proceeds of crime in cash over the years from these illegal activities. He invested money so earned in immovable properties and as paid-up capital, unsecured loans etc. in his related company – Sanjana Metalware India Private Limited. This was done to layer the proceeds of crime and to claim them as untainted assets.
Investigation established that the said assets were illegally acquired from the proceeds of crime generated through the unlawful activities related to smuggling of red sanders and sandalwood and other criminal activities and accordingly the same have been attached under PMLA. The total proceeds of crime acquired by the accused in the case was Rs.2.74 crore. The ED has attached properties with book value of Rs.2.74 crore. Present market value of these assets is approximately 7.54 crore.
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