The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Chennai, arrested Mani Anbazhagan, son of late DMK Minister Ko.Si. Mani, for money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday. He has been remanded to judicial custody for 15 days and lodged in Puzhal prison.
A senior ED official told The Hindu, “This was a result of the coordination between the Customs and ED officials. The Customs first noticed this [illegality] and tipped us.”
The official added that in such cases, usually there is no trace of documents or any money in the account(s).
“In this case, for the first time, we were able to identify some key papers and documents. We also spoke to the banks, gathered CCTV footage and collected bank officials’ statements before narrowing down on the person. Around ₹20 crore was available in various personal accounts (which is now attached by the ED),” the official said. Further investigation is in progress.