ED seizes 5 high-end Mercs, freezes Rs55cr in accounts

THE Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bengaluru zonal office, on September 2 carried out search operations at multiple premises in Bengaluru and Challakere under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the alleged illegal online betting case involving Chitradurga Congress MLA KC Veerendra Puppy and others.

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In an official release on Wednesday, the ED stated that it had seized "five high-end vehicles, including Mercedes Benz with VIP numbers 0003 (KA 50 MB 0003, KA 09 ML 0003, KA 53 MD 0003, KA 53 MH 0003, KA 16 P 0003) and one with VIP number 5267 (KA 02 MU 5267)".

"Further, an amount of around Rs 55 crore was frozen, including around Rs 40.69 crore in nine bank accounts, and one demat account of Veerendra. Around Rs 14.46 crore in 262 mule accounts was recovered from one of the accused gateways through which money collected by multiple gaming websites, allegedly operated by Veerendra and his associates, was being routed," the central agency stated. It added that the "searches and tracing of proceeds of crime (PoC) were undertaken during the ED's custody of the prime accused, MLA, Chitradurga district, KC Veerendra".