Rs. 908-cr penalty in FEMA case against DMK MP: ED

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said a penalty of Rs 908 crore has been slapped in a case related to the alleged violation of foreign exchange rules against DMK MP S Jagathratchakan and his family members. The federal agency issued a statement which said that properties worth Rs 89.19 crore, seized in September 2020, have been confiscated following an adjudication order issued on August 26 under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Jagathratchakan, 76, represents the Arakkonam Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu. He has earlier served as a minister of state for Information and Broadcasting in the Union government. The agency said a FEMA violation probe was initiated against the MP, a businessman from Tamil Nadu, his family members and a related Indian entity.

This investigation, it said, resulted in the passing of seizure order, dated September 11, 2020, under section 37A of FEMA, for various movable and immovable properties in the name of the MP and his family members. These are valued at Rs 89.19 crore. “The properties worth Rs 89.19 crore which were seized in terms of section 37A of FEMA were also ordered for confiscation, and penalty of Rs 908 crore is levied vide Adjudication Order dated 26/08/2024,” the ED said. The 2020 seizure order was “set aside” by the Competent Authority (under the FEMA) in February 2021 and the ED challenged it before the Appellate Tribunal where, the ED said, the “appeal is pending”.

Later, the agency filed a complaint in December 2021 before the FEMA Adjudicating Authority against the MP, his family and a linked company “charging them for violations of various FEMA provisions, particularly in respect of their investment to the tune of Rs 42 core in a shell company incorporated in Singapore in 2017”.