The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday took possession of 15 immovable “benami” properties of former Union Minister and DMK MP A. Raja. The properties, worth around Rs 55 crore, allegedly belong to A. Raja and were registered under his benami company, Kovai Shelters Promoters India Private Limited. The ED seized the properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act related to the disproportionate assets (DA) case against him. The DA case is related to when Raja served as Union Minister of Environment and Forest from 2004 to 2007 in the UPA-1 regime.
The ED stated that he had granted environmental clearances to a real estate company in Gurugram in exchange for kickbacks. Benami refers to “no name” and benami properties refer to those properties which are not purchased in the name of the real beneficiary. The ED said in a statement it had “taken possession of 15 immovable properties owned by A Raja in the name of his benami company Kovai Shelters Promoters India Pvt Ltd, under the PMLA, in the matter of a disproportionate assets case of A. Raja, former Union cabinet minister of environment and forest, subsequent to confirmation of the provisional attachment order by the Hon’ble Adjudicating Authority.”
It also stated that the assets, measuring about 45 acres of land in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), had been attached by ED in December 2022. The Adjudicating Authority of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) approved this order on June 1 and the property had now been seized.
“The said company never engaged in any business activity since inception. ED investigation established that the properties measuring 45 acres of land in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (worth around Rs 55 Crore) were purchased directly using the proceeds of crime generated by Raja,” stated the ED.
A senior DMK leader, Raja had been Union Minister under the NDA-1, UPA-1, and UPA-2 governments. He was accused of allocating airwaves and licenses for cell phone networks in exchange for kickbacks and arrested in 2011 in the 2G scam. In 2017, a CBI court discharged Raja, and his party colleague Kanimozhi from the case.