ED report points to money laundering aspect in MUDA scam
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- Country:
- India
The fourteen sites (plots) allotted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi B M in Mysuru upmarket were 'illegally allotted' and there was a money laundering attempt, reveals the ED investigation into the MUDA site allotment case.
The Provisional Attachment Order (PAO) issued by the Enforcement Directorate gave a detailed picture of the modus operandi to use these 14 sites for money laundering purpose.
Activist Snehamayi Krishna, who is a petitioner in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case shared the copy of PAO with PTI.
The 104-page order explained that the 'illegal allotment' was done under the influence.
The ED said Parvathi returned these 14 sites subsequent to initiation of the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
''The illegal allotment of sites is not a single occurrence. There is a deep-rooted nexus between MUDA officers /officials and real estate businessmen/influential persons. Large number of illegal allotments were made by MUDA officers/officials against cash, immovable properties, vehicles etc,'' the ED said.
The modus operandi followed was to make illegal allotments to ineligible persons who are front or dummy, according to the agency.
It further said that these sites were subsequently projected as untainted, that is, having been obtained as compensation for land acquired by MUDA.
''Further, these illegally allotted sites are being sold in order to obfuscate their true origin i.e. proceeds of crime and to frustrate proceedings under PMLA, 2002. The resultant sale consideration obtained is being projected as untainted income from real estate business,'' the report explained.
The MUDA allotted 14 sites to Parvathi against the acquisition of her three acres and 16 guntas of agriculture land in Kesare village.
Siddaramaiah's brother-in-law, Mallikarjuna Swamy, had gifted the land in Kesare to his sister Parvathi.
Swamy told ED that he had visited the land in Kesare with owner J Devaraju during the year 2003 before purchasing it and claimed there was no development work on the land.
However, when confronted with the satellite imagery which clearly indicated development work on the land undertaken during year 2001, 2002 and 2003, he could not provide any plausible explanation for the same, the ED order said.
''It can be clearly seen from the satellite imageries and the work order for L&T that the development work had commenced in year 2001 itself,'' the ED said.
According to the ED, as per the final notification issued for acquisition of the land, Devaraju was not mentioned as land owner.
''It can be observed from the above that the entire process of denotification, purchase of the land and its subsequent conversion for non agricultural purpose is all along devised under the influence to obtain possession of a prime land at a layout being developed by MUDA,'' it said.
''Further, tampering, violation of office p.6.u-ariui, undue favour/influence, forging of signature, evidence tampering etc is also evident from the investigation,'' it added.
The ED investigation shows that the land was originally acquired by MUDA for Rs 3,24,700 and the same was illegally de-notified based on incorrect facts and under the influence.
The land was converted into residential land based on incorrect spot inspection reports and 'No Objection' from MUDA, according to ED.
''Illegal compensation in the form of sites at posh locality worth Rs 56 crore (Appx) was obtained through political influence. These illegally obtained sites were projected as compensation received from MUDA,'' it said.
Consequent to the investigation under PMLA, Parvathi had returned the above sites to MUDA on October 1, 2024, ED said.
Though the sites have been returned to MUDA by Parvathi, it is evident from the investigation there was an attempt at money laundering by the accused in the case, who are Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi, her brother Swamy, Devaraju and others including officers and officials of MUDA, real estate businessman and influential individuals, the ED said.
''Investigation revealed that approximately 1,095 MUDA sites (plots) have been illegally allotted,'' it said.
There was no reaction from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his family on the ED's PAO.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)