Shivani Thakur
Published on: May 13, 2022 at 19:32 IST
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it has seized over Rs 133 Crore belonging to former Odisha MLA Jitendra Nath Patnaik, (Jitu Patnaik) in connection with a Case of Money Laundering.
“Enforcement Directorate has carried out search operations at various offices and residential premises of Jitendra Nath Patnaik and related entities at Joda, District — Keonjhar and Bhubaneswar — under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. Patnaik has allegedly derived undue pecuniary advantage by way of illegal mining without necessary statutory approvals,” Agency said in a Statement.
The Central Agency initiated a Money Laundering Investigation on the basis of an First Information Report and Charge-sheet filed by the State Vigilance Cell of Odisha against Patnaik and others.
“As per the Charge-sheet filed by the State Vigilance, the accused indulged into illegal mining for a long period causing huge loss to the Government ex-chequer which amounts to more than Rs 130 crore. Thus, Enforcement Directorate has been able to recover almost the entire amount of proceeds of crime,” the Statement said.