The Enforcement Directorate has seized Rs 360 Crore worth of fixed deposits of a private group following raids conducted against it and Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, a state PSU recently.
In a release, ED said, “ED carried out searches at 10 locations in Chennai on April 24 related to officials of TANGEDCO and South India Corporation SIC, a group company of the Chettinad Group. These locations included the premises of the former Director of Coal (TANGEDCO), government officials, as well as key management personnel of SIC and Western Agencies (Madras) Private Limited.”
The agency said the searches were conducted following an FIR registered by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, Chennai for fraudulently cheating the TANGEDCO by claiming excessive payments for coal transportation from the Visakhapatnam port, which amounted to hundreds of crores.
Incriminating documents, including digital evidence and property papers, were seized apart from the seizure of Rs 360 crore worth of fixed deposits in the accounts of South India Corporation, the ED said.
"The initial tender awarded for six months was extended for 19 years based on an injunction petition filed by one of the related parties," it said. The Income Tax department had searched the company in December 2020 and claimed to have detected tax evasion of more than Rs 700 crore.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the administrative authority for the I-T department, issued a statement in this regard and claimed to have seized "unaccounted" cash of Rs 23 crore during these searches.
(With PTI inputs.)
