Sitting DMK MP of Kallakurichi parliamentary constituency Gautham Sigamani has invited fresh trouble after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has, on Friday, seized his properties worth of crores under the grounds of illegal acquisition. Gautham Sigamani is the son of DMK Deputy General Secretary K Ponmudi, who had also served as the former Tamil Nadu minister under the DMK regime. 

According to reports, the ED had attached the properties worth Rs 8.6 crores held by Gautham, and the seized properties include agricultural lands, commercial and residential establishments in Tamil Nadu, and bank accounts and securities that belong to the son of the DMK leader. The Central agency has done the seizures as per the provisions under section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). 

The Central agency has said that the DMK MP had illegally acquired foreign security without the approval from the Reserve Bank of India. He has made an investment in a foreign company for around Rs 64 lakh in March 2008 without obtaining consent from the RBI. He also has been accused of possessing illegal foreign exchange and not repatriating to the country. 

The ED had issued a statement concerning the development in which it had said that the DMK MP hasn't repatriated a sum of Rs 7.05 crore that he earned between the financial years 2008-09 and 2012-13 in the United Arab Emirates through his investment. Besides this, Gautham Sigamani also has failed to repatriate the amount that he deposited in his overseas bank account of Rs 90 lakh. 

The Central agency has revealed that the DMK MP, being a person resident in India, has made an overseas investment of Rs 41,57,775 in March 2008 and acquired 2,45,000 shares of an entity in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Rs 22,86,924 investment in the United Arab Emirates without the approval from the RBI, which had contravened the provisions of Section 4 of FEMA for these foreign securities. 

Along with that, the DMK MP hasn't repatriated the profits amounting to Rs 7,05,57,237 that he earned in the UAE during the financial years 2008-09 to 2012-13 and he had held the profit in the country of the origin and likewise, he also had failed to repatriate the balance amount of Rs 90,20,410 from his overseas bank account in UAE as on 31.12.2012 and he continues to hold the same which had been in contravention of section 4 of FEMA, following which his properties worth Rs 8.6 crore have been seized. 

The action from the ED has come a month after similar action was taken against the senior DMK leader. On September 12, the ED had seized the properties worth Rs 89.1 crore that belonged to Senior DMK leader and Lok Sabha MP Jagathrakshakan after he was accused of violating the FEMA.

He and his son had acquired securities from a Singapore company without acquiring consent from the Reserve Bank of India. Jagathrakshakan is one of the senior leaders in the party who observes close ties with the party's high command and he has been the MP of the current Lok Sabha representing the Arakkonam constituency in the state.