The development comes days after the filing of a charge sheet against the DMK leader in a money laundering investigation.
Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate last year. (Screengrab)
A bank account analysis of arrested Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji and his wife shows they received “huge cash deposits”, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Thursday, 17 August.
The development comes days after filing a charge sheet against the DMK leader in a money laundering investigation linked to the alleged “cash-for-jobs scam” when he was heading the Transport Department in the previous AIADMK government.
The prosecution complaint, filed under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), was submitted by the central agency on 12 August before a special court in Chennai and it took cognisance of the chargesheet on Wednesday, the ED said in a statement.
The about 3,000-page charge sheet includes more than 2,000 pages of annexures and 168-170 pages of operational documents.
The agency alleged that Balaji, 47, “abused” his official position as the transport minister of Tamil Nadu, along with his brother RV Ashok Kumar and personal assistants B Shanmugam and M Karthikeyan, and “entered into a criminal conspiracy” with the then managing directors of state transport undertakings (STUs) and other officers of transport corporations.
It claimed the accused obtained “illegal gratification” from candidates to recruit them as drivers, conductors, junior tradesmen, junior assistants, junior engineers, and assistant engineers in the transport corporations.
“During ED investigation, the bank statement analysis revealed that there were huge cash deposits in the bank accounts of accused V Senthil Balaji and his wife S Megala.”
“ED has collected incriminating evidence indicating the utilisation of proceeds of crime and establishing the nexus and modus operandi of the ‘cash-for-jobs scam’,” the ED contended.
It said Balaji was confronted with “incriminating evidence but he failed to rebut the same and offer any plausible explanation, instead, he remained non-cooperative and evasive during the investigation proceedings”.
The agency claimed it has collected incriminating evidence indicating the utilisation of the “proceeds of crime” and establishing the “nexus” and modus operandi of the alleged cash-for-jobs scam.
Balaji, lodged in the Puzhal central jail in Chennai, continues to be a minister without portfolio in the Chief Minister MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government after he was arrested by the ED on 14 June in the money laundering case.
The agency had earlier claimed that Balaji “misused” his office for illegal gratification and “engineered” a job racket scam in the state transport undertakings during 2014-15 with purported kickbacks paid by candidates through his associates who include his brother Ashok Kumar and personal assistants Shanmugam and Karthikeyan.
“This led to jobs being awarded at the expense of deserving candidates,” the ED had alleged.
After his arrest on 14 June and subsequent complaint of chest pain, the Madras High Court permitted Balaji to be shifted to a private hospital for heart surgery and restricted his interrogation in the hospital. He was operated for blockages of three coronary arteries at a local private hospital in Chennai.
The case against Balaji dates back to November 2014, when the Metropolitan Transport Corporation advertised a recruitment drive to fill up various vacancies. Soon, allegations of corruption surfaced.
Balaji, who was the transport minister in the AIADMK government, joined the DMK in 2018.
According to the ED’s FIR, Balaji and others received money from several people in lieu of promises of a government job in the Transport Department. Subsequently, many of those who gave money even got jobs in the department.
However, since the Assembly elections were announced and the political scenario changed after the demise of then chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Balaji could not provide jobs to the others who had paid him.
These job aspirants complained to the Central Crime Branch in Chennai, based on which an FIR was filed.
The FIR was challenged by Balaji and his associates in court. Meanwhile, Balaji filed an affidavit stating that he had returned the money to the aspirants and that they had reached a compromise.
The case was investigated and a chargesheet was filed in 2019 before a special court for Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).
(With PTI inputs)
May 17, 2024
May 16, 2024
May 16, 2024
May 16, 2024
May 16, 2024
May 16, 2024
