Comply with TNM’s channel for information updates and story hyperlinks.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has flagged an alleged rip-off in Tamil Nadu concerning the manipulation of tenders within the Municipal Administration and Water Provide (MAWS) Division. The company has alleged that at the least Rs 1,020 crore has been collected as bribes by widespread tender rigging and has cited digital proof obtained throughout the searches performed on Tamil Nadu Minister for Municipal Administration KN Nehru, his relations and associates in April this yr.
The ED has despatched a 258-page file to the state Chief Secretary, Head of Police Pressure (HoPF) and Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) beneath part 66(2) of the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA) on December 3, in search of registration of an FIR by TN police to analyze the corruption. This might allow ED to start out a probe beneath the PMLA, the company mentioned within the letter.
That is the second letter ED has written to the Tamil Nadu authorities flagging an enormous rip-off within the MAWS Division headed by DMK Minister KN Nehru.
On October 27, the ED had written to the DGP in search of registration of an FIR into the cash-for-job rip-off within the MAWS division. In its communication, the ED had then alleged that a number of candidates paid bribes ranging between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 35 lakh to safe positions equivalent to assistant engineers, junior engineers and city planning officers within the MAWS Division.
As per the regulation, the ED can’t unilaterally proceed with a cash laundering investigation except there may be an current FIR registered by an investigation company. Nevertheless, part 66(2) of PMLA permits ED to share proof with different companies and urge them to register an FIR beneath the scheduled offences to allow ED to start their cash laundering probe.
The ED has alleged that contractors executing works of the MAWS Division paid 7.5 to 10% of the contract worth to associates of Minister KN Nehru. The contractors had been beneficiaries of tenders which had been manipulated or pre-decided, ED mentioned, citing WhatsApp chats recovered from telephones of Nehru’s associates throughout the raid.
The company additionally alleged that bribes had been collected from MAWS contractors as ‘get together funds’. Moreover, even officers posted within the Division had been requested to gather bribes from contractors and switch them to the Minister and his associates, the ED mentioned.
The ED has cited a number of particular situations of what they time period direct proof of fee of bribes totalling Rs 1,020 crore. That is based mostly on messages or chats or calculation sheets allegedly retrieved from the telephones of the Minister’s associates, ED mentioned.
This proof is simply the “tip of an iceberg” of a bigger rip-off in authorities contracts, ED alleged.
ED has additional alleged that bribes had been collected from nearly each contract, together with neighborhood bathrooms, outsourcing of sanitation staff, NABARD tasks, sweeper quarters, village roads, water/lake work, and many others.
Primarily based on the preliminary probe performed by the company into the cash path, the ED alleged that bribes had been collected throughout challenge clearance and passing of payments by authorities officers at numerous ranges, which successfully interprets to 20-25% of the contract worth. The bribe cash was then allegedly transferred by hawala networks inside and out of doors the nation.
ED mentioned they stumbled upon this proof in digital gadgets throughout searches on Nehru and his associates in April whereas probing a PMLA case referring to a CBI financial institution fraud investigation involving True Worth Properties (TVH) owned by Nehru’s brother KN Ravichandran.
The PMLA investigation was closed because the CBI case was quashed by the Madras Excessive Court docket. The supposed proof was transferred to different circumstances, ED mentioned.
ED alleged that public funds have been siphoned off for “luxurious life,” creation of private belongings and political expenditure.
Minister Nehru and the Division’s Principal Secretary D Karthikeyan didn’t reply to calls and messages in search of remark. This text will likely be up to date if we obtain a response.
Citing the Supreme Court docket order within the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary case, ED has requested the state authorities to register circumstances to analyze the alleged corruption. In a transparent warning to the state police, the company has said that not registering an FIR would quantity to knowingly helping the accused within the assortment of bribes (producing proceeds of crime).
This isn’t the primary time that ED has invoked part 66(2) of PMLA to ship letters to TN police in a bid to get FIRs registered.
In June 2024, ED had written to the TN HoPF, attaching proof pertaining to the alleged river sand mining rip-off, in search of an FIR to analyze collusion between authorities officers and personal contractors.
In Might 2025, ED wrote to DVAC, sharing particulars of their PMLA probe into the alleged Rs 27.9 crore bribes paid by Shriram Properties to former AIADMK housing minister R Vaithilingam and his sons in 2015-16 for getting approvals for a housing challenge.
The DVAC had filed two FIRs in opposition to the Orathanadu AIADMK MLA in September 2024, based mostly on which the ED had initiated and accomplished its probe.
Leave a Reply