On July 17, 2023, search operations were carried out by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) at seven locations associated with K. Ponmudy, a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and the current minister of higher education in the Government of Tamil Nadu, and his son Gautam Sigamani, a Member of Parliament who was elected under the PMLA, 2002.
As the Minister of Mines at the time, Ponmudy is accused of issuing illicit red sand mining licences to his son, family members, and benami holders at five different locations. The earnings from unlawful mining were stacked via several transactions and accounts before being placed in benami accounts. PT Excel Mengindo in Indonesia and M/s Universal Business Ventures FZE in the UAE were eventually bought, along with other foreign companies. The Indonesian business was reportedly acquired for a pittance of Rs. 41.57 lakhs and afterwards sold for more than Rs. 100 crore in 2022. It is believed that substantial sums of money were sent through hawala and utilised to acquire these foreign companies.
Unaccounted cash of Rs. 81.7 lakh and unexplained foreign money, mostly in the form of British pounds worth about Rs. 13 lakhs, were found during the search operation at Ponmudy’s home. A claim that the money belonged to a family-owned hospital was made to mislead the investigation, and ED discovered and stopped an attempt to manipulate accounting documents in order to introduce cash. One concerned person provided a statement confirming the aforementioned facts. Therefore, there is no reasonable explanation for the mysterious cash that was taken from Ponmudy’s home.
An investigation by the ED has uncovered a trail of unlawful funds obtained from these criminal operations that were funnelled into other ventures and used to buy businesses and residences. A number of accusatory papers have been discovered, confiscated, and are presently being examined. Additionally, because it was held in the form of a fixed deposit, a sum of Rs. 41.9 crores that had been designated as direct proceeds of crime was frozen in accordance with Section 17(1A) of the PMLA. The probe is being expanded upon.
