ED cracks land scam in Tamil Nadu; Rs 18.10 crore in cash, gold, and assets seized
The ED recovered incriminating documents, digital evidence related to forged land records, inflated valuations, and details of the money-laundering network
In a major breakthrough, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Chennai Zonal Office, on Wednesday conducted simultaneous raids at 15 locations across Chennai, Kancheepuram, and Chengalpattu, unearthing a large-scale land forgery and compensation fraud linked to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) projects.
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The searches led to the seizure of cash worth ₹1.56 crore, gold bullion valued at ₹74 lakh, freezing of bank balances worth ₹8.4 crore, and shares worth ₹7.4 crore – taking the total value of seized and frozen assets to ₹18.10 crore.
Inflated values, huge payouts
According to the ED, the scam dates back to 1991 when vast tracts of land were originally handed over by entities of the VGP Group to the government for public utilities such as roads and parks. Investigators allege that VGS Rajesh and his associates later reclaimed these public-utility lands through forged and fabricated documents and quickly sold them to private individuals just before the lands were acquired by NHAI for the Bangalore–Chennai Expressway and by SIPCOT for industrial expansion.
The modus operandi was elaborate and multi-layered: it involved the fraudulent cancellation of original deeds registered in favour of public authorities, followed by the resale of these “reclaimed” public lands to controlled or dummy buyers. This was accompanied by the artificial inflation of land values in registration documents, and finally, the claiming of exorbitantly high compensation from NHAI and SIPCOT based on the inflated valuations.
Once compensation was received, the proceeds were allegedly routed through a web of bank accounts belonging to associates, relatives, and shell companies to obscure the money trail. Large cash withdrawals running into several crores were made immediately after the funds were layered.
Raids corroborate fraud trail
The probe was initiated based on FIRs registered by Sriperumbudur and Kancheepuram police in 2021 and 2022 for forgery, cheating, criminal conspiracy, and fraudulent receipt of government compensation. The Madras High Court had earlier flagged similar fraudulent ownership claims that caused huge losses to the public exchequer.
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During Wednesday’s raids, the ED recovered incriminating documents, digital evidence related to forged land records, inflated valuations, internal communications among conspirators, and details of the money-laundering network.
The agency says earlier analysis of bank statements and recorded statements has now been corroborated by the seized material. The ED has described the scam as a “well-structured modus operandi” involving key individuals and complicit public servants.