ED conducts fresh searches in MUDA money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) undertook fresh searches on Monday in connection with the money laundering case involving the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in which it has booked Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, his family and others, official sources said.

Around seven to eight premises in Bengaluru and Mysuru were being covered in the search, the sources said. This includes the premises of a builder in Bengaluru and some linked persons. The federal agency conducted the first round of raids in this case on October 18, when it searched the MUDA office in Mysuru and some other locations. It also questioned some lower-rank officials of the MUDA at its Bengaluru zonal office last week.

Taking cognisance of a Lokayukta FIR, the ED has filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to book the Karnataka CM and others.

Siddaramaiah is facing Lokayukta and ED probes into alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the MUDA. Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi BM, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy, Devaraju — from whom Mallikarjuna purchased land and gifted it to Parvathi — and others are named as other accused in the case by two probe agencies. Parvathi was recently questioned by the Lokayukta police in Mysuru.

It is alleged that 14 compensatory sites were allotted to Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru that had higher property value as compared to the location of her land, which had been “acquired” by MUDA.