ED raids Ponmudy and his son in money laundering case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted raids at the premises of DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy and his MP son Gautham Sigamani in a money laundering case, official sources said.
Escorted by armed personnel of the CRPF, the officials of the federal probe agency searched the premises under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The raids are being undertaken at the premises of the father-son duo in Chennai and Ponmudy’s stronghold of Villupuram, they said.
The 72-year-old minister is an MLA from the Tirukkoyilur assembly seat in Villupuram district while his 49-year-old son Sigamani is a Member of Parliament representing the Kallakurichi seat.
The money laundering case stems from a state police FIR and charge sheet that alleged irregularities during Ponmudy’s tenure as the state mining and minerals minister in the previous DMK government (between 2007 and 2011).
There are allegations of violation of quarry licence conditions leading to “loss” of more than Rs 28 crore to the exchequer.