142 properties worth Rs 300 crore attached in Muda land scam probe: Enforcement Directorate

“The attached properties are registered in the name of various individuals who are working as real-estate businessmen and agents,” the ED said in a statement.

RTI activist Senhamayi Krishna last year alleged that the family of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah profited illegally from the allotment of 14 Muda housing sites to the CM’s wife in 2021 in exchange for 3.16 acres of land claimed to have been acquired wrongfully by Muda.

Based on a police complaint filed by Krishna, the Karnataka Lokayukta police are currently investigating allegations of corruption against Siddaramaiah in the Muda case. The Lokayukta police are due to file a status report on the probe before the Karnataka High Court on January 27.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka CM’s wife has returned the 14 housing sites allotted to her by Muda following the corruption allegations against her husband. Siddaramaiah has filed an appeal against a high court order allowing the corruption probe against him while the RTI activist has filed a plea for a CBI probe in the case.

The RTI activist also filed a complaint before the ED of irregularities in the Muda land deals over the past few years and the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) last year and carried out searches at the Muda offices, the offices of its past and present office bearers, and land beneficiaries.

“Searches conducted during the investigation further revealed that a large number of sites, other than the 14 sites allotted to Smt. BM Parvathi, have been illegally allotted by MUDA as compensation to real estate businessmen, who in turn have sold these sites at huge profit and generated huge amounts of unaccounted cash. The profit so generated has been laundered and shown as derived out of legitimate sources,” the ED said on Friday.

“The searches also revealed that sites have been allotted in the name of Benamis/dummy persons of influential persons and real estate businessmen. The incriminating evidence with respect to payment of illegal gratification to then MUDA chairman & MUDA commissioner in the form of immovable property, MUDA sites, cash, etc., were recovered,” the agency said in its statement.

“The illegal gratification, thus received, was further laundered and shown as derived out of legitimate sources. It has also been revealed that money was routed through a co-operative society for purchase of property, luxury vehicles etc. in the name of relatives of GT Dinesh Kumar, who was the previous commissioner of MUDA,” the ED further said.

The Karnataka CM has questioned the filing of a PMLA case against him by the ED over the alleged Muda land scam case. “It is difficult to understand since there is no exchange of money involved,” Siddaramaiah said in October last year, a day after the ED filed a PMLA case against him.

“Let them do what they want as per the law. I don’t know on what grounds a money laundering case has been filed. In my view, there is no money laundering involved and most people must be seeing it that way. There is no money laundering because (14 housing) sites have been given as compensation,” Siddaramaiah said in a reaction to the ED case last year.

“Also, the role I have played is not clear. There is no role. As a result, my wife is hurt by the baseless allegations against me and so my wife has decided to return the sites,” the Karnataka CM said referring to the fact that the allotment of 14 Muda sites to his wife occurred during the tenure of the BJP in 2021.