ED arrests Karnataka Congress MLA Veerendra, seizes Rs 12 crore cash
ED said the 50-year-old MLA from Chitradurga was produced before a designated magistrate in Sikkim’s capital Gangtok on Friday, and a transit remand was obtained for producing him before the jurisdictional court in Bengaluru
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday (August 23) arrested Karnataka Congress MLA KC Veerendra under the anti-money laundering law in an alleged illegal online and offline betting case.
The MLA was arrested from Sikkim, the ED said.
Cash, gold, silver seized
The federal probe agency also said it seized Rs 12 crore in cash (including about Rs 1 crore in foreign currency), gold jewellery worth Rs 6 crore, silver about 10 kgs, along with four vehicles, following raids carried out on Friday in multiple states.
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The agency did not specify what was seized from which place.
As per the ED, the searches were conducted in Gangtok, Chitradurga district, Bengaluru, Hubli, Jodhpur, Mumbai, and Goa.
International casino membership/reward cards – MGM casino, Metropolitan Casino, Bellagio casino, Marina casino, Casino Jewel. Multiple credit and debit cards of various banks, luxury hospitality membership cards of Taj, Hyatt and the Leela, cars with number plate – 0003 were also seized under PMLA, 2002.
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It said the 50-year-old MLA from Chitradurga was produced before a designated magistrate in Sikkim’s capital Gangtok on Friday, and a transit remand was obtained for producing him before the jurisdictional court in Bengaluru.
Business visit to Gangtok
The Bengaluru zone of the ED is investigating the case.
The legislator had gone to Gangtok along with his associates on a business visit to lease a casino, the agency said.
“Many property-related documents were also seized from the premises of Veerendra's brother K C Nagaraj and his son Pruthvi N Raj. His other associates like another brother K C Thippeswamy are handling operations of online gaming from Dubai,” the ED said.