The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed its third chargesheet (second supplementary charge sheet) in the Kerala gold smuggling case, the agency said on Monday, June 5. Ramees KT, the alleged kingpin of the gold smuggling syndicate, was arrested on April 5 by the ED and the chargesheet was filed following his interrogation.
The ED initiated a PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) investigation based on an FIR lodged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Kochi, following the seizure of 30.24 kg of smuggled gold by Customs at Trivandrum International Airport in July 2020. The gold was camouflaged as diplomatic baggage of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. During the course of his interrogation, Ramees was reportedly confronted with over 2,000 voice memos of Telegram chats between him and his associates allegedly involved in smuggling.
"Ramees revealed the names of various investors who sponsored the gold smuggling, including persons from Dubai, as well as the names of some beneficiaries. The investigation conducted revealed that 27 accused persons were involved in the offense of money laundering, and they have now been chargesheeted," the official said.
ED has filed third charge sheet in the case of Ramees K.T, king-pin of gold smuggling syndicate, through Trivandrum International Airport under the guise of diplomatic baggage of UAE Consulate.
— ED (@dir_ed) June 5, 2023
Previously, PS Sarith, Sandeep Nair, M Sivasankar, and Swapna Prabha Suresh were arrested by the ED in the case. Additionally, two provisional attachment orders for the attachment of various movable properties amounting to Rs 16.80 crore were issued in the case. The total attachment of properties in the case to date amounts to Rs 21.50 crore, the official said.