The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Chennai Zonal Office, has seized assets worth ₹18.10 crore during search operations conducted on Wednesday. The ED conducted searches in 15 locations of three districts including Chennai, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu.
The case pertains to large-scale fraud relating to forgery of land records and wrongful claim of compensation in land acquisitions carried out by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT).
In a press release, the ED said it had initiated investigation on the basis of FIRs registered by Sriperumbudur and Kancheepuram Police stations in 2021 and 2022 for offences related to forgery, cheating, criminal conspiracy and fraudulent receipt of compensation.
The FIRs alleged that lands originally provided by entities of the VGP Group in 1991 for public utilities such as roads and parks were subsequently reclaimed through forged and fabricated documents by V.G.S. Rajesh and then sold to private persons shortly before acquisition by NHAI and SIPCOT.
In proceedings related to these matters, the Madras High Court had also observed that various persons had fraudulently claimed ownership of lands before acquisition, resulting in huge loss to the public exchequer.
The ED investigation has revealed that forged and bogus documents were used to cancel the deeds registered in favour of public authorities just before the acquisition by NHAI and SPICOT. These fraudulent cancellations enabled the sale of lands that were originally meant for public purposes.
The miscreants did not stop there and even went ahead by selling the lands obtained fraudulently to their own associates.
The investigation further revealed that a well-structured modus operandi was developed by key individuals and public servants by cancelling sale deeds unlawfully, resale of public utility lands through controlled/dummy buyers, artificial enhancement of market value in registration documents, and obtaining inflated compensation from government acquisition authorities.
During the search operations, ₹1.56 crore of cash, and bullion worth ₹74 lakh have been seized. Further bank balances amounting to ₹8.40 crore and shares valued at ₹7.40 crore were frozen.
Published – November 22, 2025 01:01 am IST
