CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has again summoned former Health Minister and TVK Pudukkottai district organisational secretary C Vijayabaskar and his wife, V Ramya, in connection with an alleged Rs 35.79 crore disproportionate assets case.
Vijayabaskar has been asked to appear before the agency on Wednesday, while Ramya has been summoned for Thursday.
Neither Vijayabaskar nor Ramya appeared in response to the previous summons issued on November 3. Sources said the ED has this time served the summons at Vijayabaskar's Chennai residence.
The summons is part of the ED's money laundering investigation into assets allegedly accumulated by Vijayabaskar during his tenure as Health and Family Welfare Minister in the AIADMK government between 2016 and 2021.
ED sources said statements from both Vijayabaskar and Ramya were recorded when they appeared for questioning following the first round of summons in 2024.
The ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in 2021 based on an FIR filed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC). The agency also conducted searches at Vijayabaskar's residence in Illuppur, Pudukkottai district, on March 21, 2024.
The DVAC's FIR, registered on October 17, 2021, alleged that the couple's assets increased from Rs 6.41 crore to Rs 57.77 crore during the check period between April 2016 and March 2021.
The agency initially estimated the disproportionate assets at Rs 27.22 crore, but revised the figure to Rs 35.79 crore in its chargesheet filed in May 2023.
The FIR also flagged 14 educational institutions established through the Mother Teresa Educational and Charitable Trust in Illuppur, suspecting that they could have been funded using illicitly acquired money.