Officials from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) are conducting searches at the residence of former Electricity Minister P.Thangamani of the AIADMK, and at places related to him in other parts of the State.
Vigilance sleuths reached the former Minister’s residence in Pallipalayam during early hours of Wednesday and the searches started by 7 a.m here.
The DVAC, Namakkal, registered a case against Mr.Thangamani, his son T. Dharanidharan and his wife T. Santhi for allegedly acquiring disproportionate assets more than their known sources of income on December 14.
According to DVAC, between May 2016 and March 2020, the accused have allegedly accumulated assets beyond their known sources of income. According to the FIR, Dharanidharan allegedly runs a firm named Murugan Earth Movers. However, the firm was found to be only on paper and was used to cover illegal assets acquired by Thangamani, it alleged.
The DVAC also charged that Santhi aided Thangamani and Dharanidharan to hide the ill-gotten money by filing income tax returns when required, though she did not have any known source of income.
The accused have acquired disproportionate assets to the tune of ₹4.85 crore and both Thangamani and his son Dharanidharan have invested huge amounts of money in crypto assets, the DVAC officials charged.
The searches are progressing at Dharanidharan’s residence in Salem and also at the business premises related to the accused in 69 places, sources said.
