The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday, October 10, announced that it took possession of 15 immovable properties linked to A Raja, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP from Nilgiris Lok Sabha constituency. In a statement on platform X, formerly Twitter, ED said that it seized the properties linked to him in the name of his benami company, M/s Kovai Shelters Promoters India Pvt Ltd, under the appropriate provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). According to the reports, the worth of the immovable properties is approximately Rs 55 crore.
The seizure is part of an ongoing money laundering investigation against A Raja, who served as Union Minister of Environment and Forest in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government between 2004 and 2007. During his tenure, he allegedly received a kickback from a real estate company that operated in Gurugram of Haryana after he granted environmental clearances to them. With the bribe money of Rs 55 crore, he reportedly purchased properties that have now been seized by ED.
The assets measuring about 45 acres of land in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu were attached by ED in December last year. Subsequently, the Adjudicating Authority of PMLA approved this order on June 1 this year. While attaching the properties to the case last year, ED noted that Raja incorporated the company, Kovai Shelters, in 2007 in the name of his family members and his close family friends, "with the sole objective of using it as a vehicle to park the proceeds of crime." According to the TOI report, the company in question was never engaged in any business operation since it was established, and the money received from the real estate company deal was used for buying in Coimbatore district.