NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday attached over 140 immovable properties valued at around Rs 300 crore in connection with a Muda-linked money laundering case involving Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and others.
“It is alleged that Siddaramaiah (a Congress leader) used his political influence to obtain compensation for 14 sites in the name of his wife Smt.
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BM Parvathi in lieu of 3 acres and 16 guntas of land acquired by Muda,” the agency said.
“The land was originally acquired by MUDA for Rs 3,24,700. The compensation in the form of 14 sites in a posh locality is worth Rs 56 crore,” he added.
The federal agency said that the seized properties are registered in the names of several people involved in the real estate sector as businessmen and agents.
He revealed that former Muda commissioner DB Natesh played an “instrumental” role in illegally allocating compensation sites to Parvathi. Investigations found that apart from the 14 sites allotted to Parvathi, Muda illegally distributed many other sites to real estate businessmen. These businessmen subsequently sold the sites for substantial profits, generating large amounts of “unaccounted” cash.
The agency alleged that proceeds from the illegal sale of allocated sites were “laundered” and disguised as income from legitimate sources. He also claimed that many of these sites were allotted under the names of “benami and dummies” individuals linked to influential figures and real estate businessmen.
He said the raids uncovered incriminating “evidence” of illegal payments to the former Muda chairman and commissioner, including real estate, Muda sites and cash. He also claimed that the funds were channeled through a cooperative society to purchase properties and luxury vehicles in the name of relatives of GT Dinesh Kumar, the former Muda commissioner.