B'luru court convicts ex-RTO, wife for money laundering in DA-linked case

Bengaluru: A special PMLA court in Bengaluru has convicted a former Karnataka regional transport officer (RTO) and his wife on the charge of money laundering and sentenced them to three years in jail, the ED said Friday.

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court also slapped the accused with a fine of Rs 10,000, the federal probe agency said.

J V Ramaiah and M Lalitha were booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2009 after taking cognizance of a case registered against them in the same year by the Karnataka Lokayukta Police in the Kolar district of the state.

Ramaiah, an RTO posted at Nagamangala in Mandya district, was booked by the Lokayukta for allegedly accumulating disproportionate assets of over Rs 1.24 crore (Rs 1,24,23,929) which was 415.3 percent more than his known sources of income.

The ED, during the course of the investigation, attached assets worth more than Rs 70.27 lakh of the accused and filed a chargesheet against the couple in January 2018 before the special court.

The agency said its chargesheet ”withstood all the legal challenges and finally established the offences of the accused.” ”The hon’ble special court, PMLA has convicted J V Ramaiah and M Lalitha under section 4 of the law (PMLA) and sentenced them to three years of imprisonment and (imposed) a fine of Rs 10,000.” The attached properties have been ”confiscated” by the court, it said.