Attachment of properties worth more than Rs. 7.54 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in Red Sanders Smuggling case.

In a press release issued on 29.03.2022, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced that it has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth more than Rs. 7.54 Crore belonging to R. Selvaraj and his family members under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in Red Sanders Smuggling case. The attached assets include 8 residential plots in Aathoor and Pudhu Erumaivettipalayam, Redhills, Tamil Nadu State, 6 plots of agricultural land situated in Vallakottai village, Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, 2 house properties situated in (i) Venus Colony 2nd Street, Chennai and (ii) Krishna Nagar, Saram Revenue village in Pondicherry and movable properties of Rs 2.07 Crore in the form of assets of M/s Sanjana Metalware India Pvt Ltd.

ED initiated money laundering investigations on the basis of an FIR filed by the A.P. Police and Commissionerate of Customs, Chennai. Subsequently, charge-sheet and prosecution complaints were filed by the AP Police & Prosecution wing of Chennai Customs Department respectively, against R. Selvaraj and others before the Competent Courts in Chittoor, AP and Chennai. He was also detained under COFEPOSA and has been charged with contraventions of Sec 135, 132 of Customs Act and Wildlife Protection Act 1972, Biodiversity Act 2002, and Arms Act.

An investigation by ED revealed that R. Selvaraj is a habitual offender indulging in unlawful activities related to the smuggling of red sanders/sandalwood and other criminal activities and earned proceeds of crime in cash over the years from these illegal activities. He invested the money so earned in immovable properties and as paid-up capital, unsecured loans etc. in his related company M/s Sanjana Metalware India Pvt Ltd. This was done to layer the proceeds of crime and to claim them as untainted assets. The investigation established that the said assets were illegally acquired from the proceeds of crime generated through the unlawful activities related to smuggling of red sanders/sandalwood and other criminal activities and accordingly the same has been attached under PMLA. The total Proceeds of Crime acquired by the accused in this case is 2.74 Crore. ED has attached properties with the book value of 2.74 Crore.


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