CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate has shared fresh inputs regarding an alleged Rs 366 crore worth money laundering and corruption ring in the transfer and appointments of officials and engineers in the Tamil Nadu Department of Municipal Administration, Urban and Water Supply (MAWS), officials said on Tuesday.
The federal probe agency's Chennai zonal office has sent a letter in this context to state chief secretary and the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) seeking registration of a police FIR against minister K N Nehru and some others linked to him.
The ED had also written two separate letters to the state government authorities in October and December last year claiming "wide spread" corruption in the MAWS tenders and recruitments and linked Nehru to these charges.
The said PMLA provision empowers ED to share information and evidence regarding an offence with the police or a designated law enforcement agency.
In its latest communication, the ED informed the TN government that it has recovered photos, WhatsApp chats and documents which show "many" instances of bribes being collected for the transfer and posting of government officers and engineers in MAWS.
It claimed that alleged bribe amounts ranging from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 1 crore, depending on a case-by-case basis, were being transacted in the case of about 340 MAWS officials. The agency alleged the data shared by it in the relevant communication was of a "limited" period and that this claimed bribery ring was wider.
The agency said the bribe funds of Rs 365.87 crore were utilised in real estate, investments in other properties, including foreign assets, gold bullion and for luxury expenditure, including liquor.
The ED, in 2025, had shared two such communications with the TN government authorities, claiming irregularities and corruption in the MAWS.
The first was linked to an alleged recruitment scam in the said department as it claimed that certain public servants and politicians were involved, while the second pointed to a Rs 1,020 crore corruption in the tenders and contracts awarded by the MAWS.