CHENNAI: Arappor Iyakkam on Tuesday filed a criminal complaint with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, alleging disproportionate assets amassed by former commercial taxes minister K C Veeramani.
In the complaint, Arappor convenor Jayaram Venkatesan said the assets of Veeramani, an AIADMK member and MLA from Jolarpet, and his dependents increased by Rs 83.65 crore from 2011 to 2021, the period when AIADMK was in government.
The information about Veeramani’s assets and allegation that it is disproportionate to his known sources of income was culled from official affidavits filed by the former minister with the Election Commission of India in 2011, 2016 and 2021, Jayaram said.
The assets include hotels, agricultural land, cars, high-end trucks and gold which has been declared in the name of Veeramani, his wife, children and even another elder relative who has been named as a dependent.
Arappor in its complaint attached evidence about what it said was the fraudulent nature of several land deals which were undervalued by registrars and sold to Veeramani’s mother Maniammal who was used as a conduit. These lands were later transferred to Veeramani’s name through settlement deeds, it said.
For example, it said, one plot of land bought by the former minister in 2014 in Natrampalli had a guideline value of Rs 41.4 lakh as per government registration records. But Veeramani claimed to have registered it for Rs 3.76 lakh. The records pertaining to all family members should be probed, Arappor said. The role of sub-registrars who carried out such transactions should also be investigated in detail, the complaint added.
Responding to the allegations, Veeramani told TOI the complaint was out of jealousy and that he was not a pauper when he entered politics. “I come from an extremely rich business family. I used to travel in high-end cars even in 1970. Our family is involved in the beedi industry, transport, hotels and other businesses. The allegations are false,” he said.
Veeramani accepted that details given by Arappor were from his election affidavits. “But I have not lied in the affidavit. All the accounts have been properly audited and tax has been paid,” he said.
