The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting raids at multiple locations in Chennai and Thanjavur, connected to former minister and AIADMK MLA R. Vaithilingam in connection with a money laundering case. The searches are happening after the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) filed a case against him and his son V. Prabhu. The case was filed last month based on allegations of corruption when he was a minister in Jayalalithaa’s cabinet.
In September this year, the DVAC had filed a case against Vaithilingam and Prabhu accusing them of accepting bribes from a major real estate company in exchange for granting planning permission for a housing project. He was the housing and urban development minister in Jayalalithaa’s cabinet during 2011- 2016. The case pertains to his tenure as the minister for amassing wealth disproportionate to the known sources of income.
As per the FIR filed by DVAC, the former minister had taken bribe from a real estate firm to the tune of Rs 27.9 crores. The money, as per the FIR, was given to a shell company managed by Vaithilingam’s son only to give approvals for a real estate project proposed by the private firm. ED is searching at the places linked to the MLA, at his MLA hostel residence in Chennai, his home town Orathanadu near Thanjavur and also at the CMDA office in Chennai to look for papers related to his tenure.
Vaithilingam apparently is one of the popular faces of the AIADMK in the Thanjavur region. He has won from the Orathanadu assembly constituency three times and is considered one of the strong leaders of the AIADMK. A confidant of former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, he was once close to her aide V.K. Sasikala, too. Vaithilingam also hails from Sasikala’s own Thevar community. He is now part of the O. Panneerselvam faction. It is said that Vaithilingam who is upset with OPS for not ensuring their return to the parent party was contemplating to go back into the AIADMK under the leadership of Edappadi Palaniswamy.
