Properties, cash, gold of tainted TNPCB officer attached by ED
M Pannirselvam has failed to prove the genuineness of sources for the acquisition of immovable properties purchased in the names of his family members.
Enforcement Directorate (ANI)
CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached six immovable properties worth Rs. 1.12 crore, unexplained and unaccounted cash of Rs. 3.59 crore, 61 gold coins, gold ornaments and silver articles weighing around 3.6 kg and 6.4 kg respectively recovered from the premises of M. Pannirselvam, former Joint Chief Environmental Engineer (JCEE), Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Tamil Nadu, in connection with corruption and disproportionate Assets (DA) case.
ED initiated an investigation on the basis of two FIRs registered by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), Vellore, Tamil Nadu, against Pannirselvam for corruption and acquiring assets to the tune of Rs. 7.54 Crore through ill-gotten money which is disproportionate to his known sources of income, said a press release from ED.
ED investigation revealed that during the proceedings before DVAC, M Pannirselvam fraudulently tried to show the ownership of liquid cash (Rs. 3.59 crore) found with him as pertaining to his brother-in-law and his late parents. However, the evidence collected by ED proved that his brother-in-law and late parents have no connection with such cash seized by DVAC.
Further, ED investigation also revealed that Pannirselvam has made huge cash deposits of around Rs. 1.5 crore in his and his family members' bank accounts, for which no satisfactory explanation could be provided either by the public servant or by his family members.
Also, it was revealed that Pannirselvam has incurred large unexplained expenditures, e.g. on studies/ marriage of his son, for which the sources are not substantiated by him.
Furthermore, M Pannirselvam has failed to prove the genuineness of sources for the acquisition of immovable properties purchased in the names of his family members.
Therefore, such unexplained assets found in possession of M Pannirselvam/ his wife/ son are treated to be out of his ill-gotten income while performing his official duties as a public servant, and the same being proceeds of crime, are attached by ED last week.