NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate Wednesday said it has attached properties worth over Rs 8 crore of a former IAS officer of Kerala under the anti-money laundering law in connection with an alleged disproportionate assets case.

The central probe agency said it has issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against T O Sooraj and has attached 13 immovable properties, four vehicles and cash worth Rs 23 lakh. The total value of the properties attached is Rs 8.80 crore, the agency said in a statement.



The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a criminal PMLA case against Sooraj based on a 2014 disproportionate assets case registered by Kerala's Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB).

The officer was subsequently suspended by the state government and a charge sheet was filed against him by the vigilance bureau last year in January.

The ED said Sooraj, while working as a government servant, "illegally acquired movable and immovable properties disproportionate to his known source of income during the period between January 1, 2004 to November 19, 2014".

Sooraj had joined the state government service as a forest ranger and was later selected in the revenue service as deputy collector. He was awarded the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1994.

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