Following an extensive questioning session that lasted until 3 AM on Tuesday, 18 July 2023, Tamil Nadu’s Higher Education Minister K Ponmudi was subsequently summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) once again on the same evening. On 17 July 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated raids on K Ponmudi, Tamil Nadu’s higher education minister, and his son Gautham Sigamani, who is an Member of Parliament from the Kallakurichi constituency.
ED has conducted search operations under PMLA, 2002 on 17/07/2023 at seven locations connected to K. Ponmudy, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and a serving Minister of Higher Education in the Government of Tamil Nadu, and his son, Gautam Sigamani, MP.
— ED (@dir_ed) July 18, 2023
The raids were conducted at seven different locations, including Chennai. According to the ED, the searches conducted on Tuesday yielded significant findings. Incriminating documents were discovered, along with a sum of ₹81.7 lakhs in cash and British pounds. Of the seized amount, ₹13 lakhs were confiscated, and fixed deposits totaling ₹41.9 crores were frozen by the ED.
During the searches, various incriminating documents, cash amounting to Rs. 81.7 lakh, foreign currency (British pounds) equivalent to approx. Rs. 13 lakhs was seized and Fixed Deposits of Rs.41.9 Crore have been freezed.
— ED (@dir_ed) July 18, 2023
The ED stated that its investigation, in this case, centers around the alleged illegal issuance of red sand mining licenses at five different locations during the tenure of Ponmudi, who served as the Minister for Mines from 2007 to 2011. According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Ponmudi is alleged to have unlawfully granted red sand mining licenses to his son, relatives, and individuals acting as benami holders. The ED further claims that a substantial sum of hawala funds derived from this mining enterprise was utilized to acquire overseas companies. The agency stated that the profits obtained from the illegal mining operations were deposited in benami accounts and subsequently subjected to layering through numerous transactions and accounts.
The ED revealed that two foreign entities, PT Excel Mengindo in Indonesia and Universal Business Ventures FZE in the UAE, were acquired as part of the alleged illicit activities. The Indonesian company was initially bought for a nominal sum of ₹41.57 lakhs and subsequently sold for over ₹100 crore in 2022. The ED suspects that a significant amount of cash was transferred through hawala channels and utilized in the acquisition of these overseas entities.
Following the arrest of Minister V Senthil Balaji by the Enforcement Directorate, K Ponmudi becomes the second minister in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) cabinet to face questioning. In a statement from the government, it was conveyed that the Chief Minister M K Stalin assured Ponmudi of the party’s moral, political, and legal support to resist and challenge the alleged political victimization by the Union Bharatiya Janata Party government.
Ponmudi has previously faced charges of land grabbing and corruption. Recently, he was acquitted in a case involving the alleged illegal acquisition of government land during his ministerial tenure from 1996 to 2001.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
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