ED exposes alleged corruption in TN’s MAWS dept, targets minister’s family

The Chennai unit of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that it has uncovered a corruption network in Tamil Nadu’s Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department (MAWS), following search operations on April 7, 2025, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The raids targeted 15 premises linked to M/s Truedom EPC India Pvt Ltd, part of the TVH group owned by KN Ravichandran, brother of Minister KN Nehru, and its key personnel. The ED claims it has exposed a ₹30-crore bank fraud and a broader financial and administrative cartel operating across the state.

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Top ED sources say that Ravichandran and Nehru’s son, Arun Nehru, allegedly played major roles in orchestrating the scam. The ED further says efforts are on to quantify how their actions caused significant loss to the state exchequer.

The bank fraud

The investigation, initiated based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR, allegedly revealed that Truedom EPC, a shell entity with no wind energy expertise, was created to divert a ₹30-crore loan sanctioned by Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) in 2013 for a fictitious 100.8 MW windmill project in Tiruppur. The funds were routed through associated shell entities with no real operations, layered, and transferred to settle liabilities of M/s True Value Homes Pvt Ltd and M/s TVH Energy Resources Pvt Ltd.

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The ED alleges that fake project agreements and paper companies were used to mask the diversion, with no repayment efforts made before the loan was declared fraudulent. Incriminating documents, digital records, and property papers seized during the raids confirm the involvement of Ravichandran and Arun Nehru in this scheme, the enforcement agency claims.

Systemic corruption within MAWS

Beyond the financial fraud, the ED’s searches allegedly exposed systemic corruption within MAWS, uncovering pre-fixed commissions for tender awards, rigged procurement processes, and a well-organised nexus of officials, middlemen, and politically-linked individuals. The ED's evidence also points to bribes for securing transfers and postings of MAWS officials, entrenching the cartel’s influence. The investigations revealed extensive hawala transactions across Tamil Nadu to channel illicit funds, alongside a pattern of layering and siphoning through interconnected entities, indicating a statewide financial and administrative cartel.

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The ED has identified assets acquired with the proceeds of crime (POC) and is working to quantify and attach them under PMLA provisions. Top officials noted that the agency is focussed on tracing additional assets, identifying other beneficiaries, and unravelling the full modus operandi of the accused. The probe aims to determine the exact scale of the losses to the public exchequer by these illegal operations.

Critical questions

As the ED continues its investigation, further details are expected to reveal the depth of this alleged syndicate.

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The ED raids are significant, coming ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, as the Centre is often accused of misusing the enforcement agencies to meet its political ends. The DMK, in its defence, is likely to call the raids as vendetta politics. In this context, they cite the poor track record of enforcement agencies in taking such cases to their logical end and ensuring convictions.