ED attaches Rs 40 crore worth properties of MK Alagiri’s son Dhayanidhi

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday attached properties worth over Rs 40 crore in connection with the illegal mining case involving Dhayanidhi, son of former DMK strongman and former union minister MK Alagiri.

In a statement, the ED stated that the properties were attached on the basis of an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Olympus Granites Pvt Limited in which Dhayanidhi Alagiri is a director.

“Investigation under PMLA revealed that M/s Olympus Granites Private Limited and its promoters/shareholders/directors have committed a Scheduled Offence and derived proceeds of crime by indulging in the illegal quarrying and the trade proceeds of the Company derived therefrom were relentlessly incubated and thereby resulting in further accruals of proceeds of crime, all of which were camouflaged in the organisational system as business income/earnings, although gained out of the said illegal activity,” read the statement.

Based on this, the ED has attached 25 movable and immovable properties, including land and buildings in Madurai and Chennai and a fixed deposit account, which were identified as part of the illegally earned income by the company.

The scam by Olympus involves encroachment of government land and illegal granite mining in Madurai, thereby causing loss of Rs 44 crore to the government. Olympus Granites Private Limited, in which Dhayanidhi and S Nagarajan are directors, is one of the multiple granite companies that has been accused of illegally mining granite from the mines owned by Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited (TAMIN). The scam came out in the open after former Madurai District Collector U Sagayam wrote to the state government in 2012 about the major violations by granite companies in the district, including PRP Exports and Olympus. This, according to his report, had caused a loss of around Rs 16,000 crore to the exchequer. He had also alleged collusion by some TAMIN employees with the granite companies, thereby enabling the illegal mining.