ED Arrests Karnataka MLA Satish Krishna Sail In ₹86.78 Crore Iron Ore Export Money Laundering Case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Satish Krishna Sail, MLA from Karnataka's Karwar Assembly constituency, in connection with an ongoing money laundering case, the agency said on Wednesday.

The arrest was made by ED's Bengaluru Zonal Office on Tuesday night after a day-long interrogation of the legislator, who had deposed before the agency earlier that day.

Officials privy to the development told ANI that Sail had been "avoiding summons" prior to his appearance. The MLA will be produced before the court later today.

The move comes a month after the ED's Bengaluru zonal office conducted search operations at multiple locations in Karwar (Uttara Kannada), Goa, Mumbai and New Delhi under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with the case. The raids were carried out on 13th and 14th August.

These operation was part of the ongoing investigation into Satish Sail, and others persons and entities, including Ashapura Minechem Ltd, Shree Lal Mahal Ltd, Swastik Steels (Hosepet) Pvt Ltd, ILC Industries Ltd, Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Minerals Ltd, who were convicted by a special court for MPs and MLAs Bangalore, for illegal export of iron ore fines carried out by Shree Mallikarjun Shipping Pvt Ltd in collusion of other persons and entities.

ED initiated an investigation on the basis of a conviction order of the court for the offences under various sections of the Induan Penal Code, 1860 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

ED investigation revealed that Satish Sail, MLA from Karwar Assembly constituency, in collusion with other business entities and Belekeri Port officials, had illegally exported iron ore fines weighing nearly 1.25 lakh metric ton during the period from April 19, 2010, to June 10, 2010, which were already under the orders of seizure of the forest department, Ankola.

"The total value of the illegal exports carried out by Satish Sail, through this company, was Rs 86.78 crore," the agency has said in a statement earlier.

The search action then resulted in the seizure of cash Rs 1.41 crore from the residence of Satish Sail and cash of Rs 27 lakh from the office premises of Sri Lal Mahal Ltd. Further, gold weighing 6.75 kg in the form of gold jewellery and bullion was also seized from the bank locker of Sail's family. Bank accounts of accused persons and entities-- Shree Mallikarjun Shipping Pyt Ltd, Satish Krishna Sail, Ashapura Minechem Ltd, etc, containing Rs 14.13 crore balance were also frozen during the search operations. Incriminating evidences in the form of documents, e-mails and records were also seized in the search operation.

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