The Enforcement Directorate accused Tamil Nadu minister Senthil Balaji of "misusing" his office for illegal gratification and "engineering" a job racket scam in the state transport undertakings (STU) during 2014-15. Arguing in a local Chennai court against Balaji on Wednesday, the ED said the minister is the "prime suspect" in the cash-for-jobs case.

In its submission, the ED claimed that Balaji "misused his office for illegal gratification and engineered a job racket scam in MTC/TNSTCs (state-run Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) and Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC))". It said kickbacks were paid by candidates through his associates.

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The case against Balaji and his aides pertains to his tenure as the state transport minister in the AIADMK government during 2011-15. The ED alleged that he, along with his brother RV Ashok Kumar, PA B Shanmugam and a person identified as M Karthikeyan, "conspired" with the managing directors of all STUs and other officers to obtain "illegal gratification" from candidates, PTI reported.

These candidates were recruited as drivers, conductors, junior assistants, junior engineers and assistant engineers in the transport corporation (during 2014-15).

These four accused then allegedly collected money from these candidates "on behalf of Balaji" for issuing appointment orders. The candidates who paid the money "neither got appointment orders nor their money back", the ED said.

Cash deposits

The federal probe agency added that alleged unaccounted cash deposits worth about Rs 1.60 crore were made in the bank accounts of Balaji and his wife, PTI reported.

"Bank statement analysis of key accused revealed that there have been cash deposits of Rs 1.34 crore in the bank accounts of prime suspect V Senthil Balaji and Rs 29.55 lakh in his wife S Meghala's account. These cash deposits are huge compared to their incomes disclosed in ITRs (income tax returns)," the ED alleged.

It informed the court that "the statements given by some accused/victims and witnesses clearly point out the offence of money laundering". The ED said, "There was neither justification nor evidence to show that the source of huge cash deposits is from his genuine income."

Violations

The ED told the court that it has recorded the statement of various officials allegedly involved in this 'scam' and they have said that many rules were "violated" while recruiting candidates. The violations included entering interview marks in pencil, not following the principle of merit and reservation, issuance of appointment letters by unauthorised officers, increasing vacancies without approval and payment of money for jobs through associates to PAs of the minister.

Some of the candidates told the ED that the money was given to Shanmugam, either "directly or through some mediators".

Balaji 'shouted and yelled'

The ED said after raiding the premises of Balaji and his associates on Tuesday, it issued him a summons to appear before it for questioning but he allegedly "refused to sign and receive" them. The probe agency claimed that Balaji "shouted and yelled" at ED officials present at his house. The agency then attempted to record his statement there in the presence of two witnesses.

It said the minister was "completely non-cooperative" during the proceedings and therefore, he was arrested around 1:30 am. It said the arrest was executed in the presence of two independent witnesses as the minister "refused" to sign the arrest memo. If not arrested, Balaji could have "tampered and destroyed" the evidence, the agency said.

During the hearing on Wednesday, the agency told the court that it requires Balaji's custody to "confront" him with those people whose statements it has already recorded and to trace the "end-use of the huge amounts of monies which appear to have been laundered in this case for which he (Balaji) could not produce documents despite sufficient opportunity".

Balaji arrested

The ED arrested Balaji under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Chennai on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, it launched searches at his premises and those linked to him in Chennai and some other locations.

After spending hours in ED custody, Balaji was admitted to a city government hospital after he complained of uneasiness. He underwent a coronary angiogram and was advised to undergo bypass surgery at the "earliest".

The state minister was remanded in judicial custody till June 28 by a sessions court judge during a hearing held at the hospital.

Several DMK leaders and Tamil Nadu ministers alleged that Balaji was "tortured in the ED custody". Meanwhile, Chief Minister MK Stalin slammed the ED action against Balaji as "intimidation politics" by the Centre.

The ED filed a case of money laundering in September 2021 to probe these allegations and its complaint is based on three Tamil Nadu Police FIRs filed during 2018 and some later years by some of those who failed to get the promised jobs.

The fresh action came after the Supreme Court issued an order on May 16 allowing an investigation into this case by the police as well as the ED.

An alleged 'benami' asset deal, where land worth Rs 25 crore was acquired for Rs 10.88 lakh, linked to a relative of Balaji is also under the scanner of the ED, officials said.

The ED said that it had summoned Balaji, R V Ashok Kumar and B Shanmugam multiple times in the past but they did not appear and sought adjournments, showing "evasive" behaviour.

(With inputs from PTI)