The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth ₹5.38 crore in the LIFE Mission scam case
The properties attached by the agency include the residential property held in the name of Santhosh Eappen, managing director of Unitac Builders, the firm which was awarded the contract for constructing residential units at Wadakkanchery for those who lost their houses in the 2018 floods, according to a tweet by the agency.
The immovable property and bank balances held in the name of Swapna Suresh, an accused in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling and US dollar smuggling case, were also attached. The ED had arraigned her as an accused in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act case along with Mr. Eappen and M. Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister.
Mr. Eappen and Mr. Sivasankar, also accused in the gold smuggling case, were later released on bail.
The ED’s case is that the accused made undue monetary gains in the form of kickbacks in awarding the contract for the construction of multi-dwelling units under the LIFE Mission housing scheme. The investigation agency booked the case after the CBI registered a cheating case against the accused. The agency contended that a huge amount of money that was collected for constructing homes for flood victims was siphoned off as an upfront commission for allocating the project contract.
