ED arrests Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji’s brother in cash laundering case
On Sunday (13 August), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji’s brother RV Ashok in reference to a cash laundering case from Kerala’s Kochi. The Minister’s brother had reportedly skipped a number of summonses despatched by the central probing company which prompted his arrest.
Balaji’s brother, Ashok has been arrested by the identical ED workforce, which has been probing the minister’s case. This growth comes a day after the ED filed a chargesheet in opposition to Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji. The central probe company filed a chargesheet comprising 3000 pages in a cash laundering case in opposition to the DMK MLA.
However, sources declare that the court docket is but to take cognisance of the cost sheet filed beneath varied sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). As per media experiences, in its cost sheet, the ED has included varied paperwork seized, purported money receipts recovered and Balaji’s assertion that was recorded by the company over the previous few days. Currently, the company has solely named Senthil Balaji in its chargesheet.
Meanwhile, on the tenth of August, the ED workforce froze a 2.49-acre land situated in Karur price greater than Rs 30 crores. The property seized by the company belongs to Ashok’s spouse and it was executed after a number of rounds of raids and an in depth inquiry into belongings acquired by DMK minister Senthil Balaji and his kin.
However, the ED is anticipated to file a supplementary cost sheet as many extra people together with members of Balaji’s household haven’t deposed earlier than the company until now. Evidently, the ED lately stated in a press release that Balaji’s brother RV Ashok Balaji, his (Ashoks’) spouse Nirmala and mother-in-law P Lakshmi had been despatched a number of summons to affix the probe and report their statements however they’re “yet to appear in person, demonstrating a lack of cooperation with the ongoing investigation”.
On Saturday (12 August), the identical day when the ED filed chargesheet within the case, the central company produced Tamil Nadu Minister Balaji earlier than Principal Sessions Judge S Alli’s court docket. Subsequently, the court docket despatched Balaji into judicial custody until 25 August and the DMK chief has been lodged in Puzhal Central Jail, in Chennai.
The ED earlier claimed that in 2014-15, Balaji “misused” his workplace for unlawful gratification and “engineered” a job racket rip-off within the state transport undertakings.
The candidates purportedly paid kickbacks by Balaji’s associates together with his brother R V Ashok Kumar and his private assistants B Shanmugam and M Karthikeyan. The ED said that this led to jobs being awarded on the expense of deserving candidates.
Less than every week in the past, on 7 August, the Supreme Court dismissed two pleas filed earlier than the apex court docket difficult the ED custody of Senthil Balaji and in search of the court docket to launch him, nonetheless, the court docket dismissed the pleas.
