New Delhi: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bangalore Zonal Office, has provisionally attached 142 immovable properties valued at approximately Rs. 300 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with an ongoing investigation involving Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others.
These properties are registered in the names of various individuals involved in real estate businesses and agencies. Reports indicate that the seized properties were allocated to Siddaramaiah’s wife, B.M. Parvathi.
The ED launched the investigation following an FIR filed by the Lokayuktha Police in Mysore under various sections of the IPC (1860) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (1988) against Siddaramaiah and others.
Allegations suggest that Siddaramaiah leveraged his political influence to secure compensation for 14 plots of land in his wife’s name, B.M. Parvathi, in exchange for 3 acres and 16 guntas of land acquired by MUDA.
The land was originally acquired for Rs. 3,24,700, while the 14 compensation sites in a prime locality are valued at around Rs. 56 crore.
The investigation has also uncovered the role of former MUDA commissioner D.B. Natesh, who is believed to have played a key role in the illegal allotment of these compensation sites to B.M. Parvathi.
Further searches revealed that MUDA had illegally allocated numerous other sites as compensation to real estate businessmen, who later sold these sites at significant profit, generating large amounts of unaccounted cash. This illicit profit was laundered and presented as legitimate income.
The searches identified sites allocated to benami or dummy persons acting on behalf of influential individuals and real estate businessmen.
Incriminating evidence has been recovered, pointing to illegal bribes paid to the then MUDA Chairman and Commissioner in the form of property, MUDA sites, and cash. This illegal gratification was subsequently laundered and masked as legitimate funds.
The investigation also revealed that money was channelled through a cooperative society for purchasing properties and luxury vehicles in the names of relatives of G.T. Dinesh Kumar, the former MUDA commissioner.
The investigation is further being carried out.
(IANS)
