ED attached Assets worth Rs. 5.38 Crore in Kerala’s LIFE Mission Scam Case

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has attached movable/ immovable properties worth Rs. 5.38 Crore in the LIFE Mission Scam case of Kerala.

Residential property is held in the name of Santhosh Eappen, and immovable property and bank balances are held in the name of Smt. Swapna Suresh.

The ED launched an investigation based on FIRs filed by the CBI, ACB, Cochin, and VACB, Thiruvananthapuram under various sections of the IPC, FCRA, and the Prevention of Corruption Act against M/s Unitac, M/s Sane Ventures, and others for alleged financial gain from the Life Mission Project.

The findings of the ED investigation showed that Sarith P.S. and Smt. Swapna Suresh, the employees of the UAE Consulate at the time, plotted to use the funds donated by Red Crescent to bribe people by awarding the LIFE Mission project to M/s Unitac Builders and Developers and M/s Sane Ventures LLP, which is run by Santhosh Eappen, without adhering to transparency standards. M. Sivasankar, the Chief Minister’s Pr. Secretary, as well as Sandeep Nair and others actively supported this scheme.

Santhosh Eappen had arranged an upfront commission as bribe totaling Rs. 4.40 Crore for UAE Consulate officials and certain Kerala Government officials out of the funds received from UAE Red Crescent for Life Mission project, which was meant to provide residential homes to the helpless flood victims of Kerala. This was done by withdrawing money from the bank accounts of Santhosh Eappen’s companies, out of which USD worth 1,90,000 was illegally exported by Khaled Ahmed Ali Shoukry, the former Finance Head of UAE Consulate Trivandrum.

Sandeep Nair, Yedu Sundran were also found to be involved in the offence of money laundering by generating POC including its possession and acquisition of the same

More probe is going on in this case.