CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized and frozen assets worth Rs 103 crore, including eight luxury cars, 7.4kg of gold jewellery, shares worth Rs 80 crore and immovable properties, in connection with an alleged money laundering case involving the diversion of public funds of Bharath Lajhna Multi State Housing Co-operative Society Ltd (BLMSHCS).A day after conducting searches on 12 premises linked to the society and its founder R Premkumar, the ED’s Kochi zonal office on Thursday said the action had resulted in the seizure of eight luxury cars, including Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Toyota Vellfire, Mahindra EV 9e and Mercedes models, valued at around Rs 7 crore. Gold jewellery weighing 7.4 kg and valued at Rs 9.6 crore, shares worth Rs 80 crore, immovable assets worth Rs 5 crore and bank balances of Rs 1.86 crore were also seized or frozen.The searches were conducted on Wednesday on premises in Chennai, Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram and Munnar under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The investigation pertains to the alleged misappropriation of public deposits collected by BLMSHCS and their diversion by Premkumar for acquiring assets in his name and those of his family members.ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by the Kerala police against Premkumar, a founding member and de facto chairman and managing director of the society and others. The FIR alleged that he misused his influence to divert crores of rupees collected from public depositors into the accounts of family members and relatives for acquiring assets. It also alleged that properties belonging to the society were mortgaged and the loan proceeds used for personal benefit and acquisition of assets in the names of his family members. The proceeds of crime were initially estimated at around Rs 80 crore.The ED’s investigation revealed that around 320 bank accounts were operated by Premkumar and his associates to layer funds belonging to the society. Analysis of these accounts showed that public deposits had been diverted for personal benefit and to acquire movable and immovable assets in the names of family members and entities controlled by them.The agency found that properties belonging to the society were mortgaged to obtain loans from financial institutions and the funds were allegedly used to acquire personal assets of Premkumar. The money was circulated through multiple accounts to conceal its source. The ED said the misuse of society funds ran into hundreds of crores of rupees, with the exact amount being quantified.During the searches, officials found that Premkumar continued to actively control the affairs of the society and had been signing several statutory documents. Further investigation is on.
