ED attaches `1.85-cr assets in gold smuggling case

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 24

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today said it had issued a provisional attachment order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to seize assets worth Rs 1.85 crore in the Kerala gold smuggling case.

ED officials said the case emerged on July 5 when gold, weighing over 30 kg, was seized by the Customs Department from a “diplomatic baggage” that had landed by air cargo at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport from the Gulf.

The seized gold was stated to be worth Rs 14.82 crore. The ED said it was “camouflaged as diplomatic baggage to the UAE Consulate, which has immunity from checking at airport as per the Vienna convention”.

“Fixed deposits along with seized cash totalling to Rs 1.85 crore have been attached under provisions of the PMLA in the case,” the ED said in a statement, adding that among the attached assets, Rs 1 crore belongs to M Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to the CM.