The Enforcement Directorate has intensified its investigation into former Tamil Nadu Environment Department official S Pandian, launching fresh raids in connection with a sprawling money laundering case. Allegations range from bribery for environmental clearances to complicity in the illegal erasure of 15,000 acres of ecologically sensitive Ennore wetlands potentially one of the largest environmental frauds in Tamil Nadu’s history.
From Surprise Office Raid to Nationwide Financial Probe
The corruption trail surrounding S Pandian, former superintendent of Tamil Nadu’s Department of Environment, has taken a deeper turn. On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched coordinated raids at six locations in Chennai and one in Katpadi (Vellore district), intensifying a money laundering investigation rooted in a 2020 corruption FIR filed by the state’s Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC).
The original case dates back to December 2020, when DVAC officials conducted a surprise check at Pandian’s office in Saidapet, discovering ₹88,500 in unaccounted cash. What followed was more revealing a search at his home uncovered ₹1.37 crore in cash, over 3 kg of gold, nearly 3.5 kg of silver, and over 10 carats of diamonds. DVAC officials, stunned by the scale of the discovery, were compelled to use currency counting machines during the raid.
ALSO READ: OEMs Invited to Showcase Tech Solutions to Police and LEAs
Property documents worth ₹7 crore were also seized, prompting Pandian’s immediate suspension. With these revelations, ED has now built a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), expanding the investigation to private firms and real estate entities allegedly connected to Pandian’s illicit approvals.
Bribes for Clearances: Real Estate & Industrial Projects Under Scanner
Sources close to the investigation say the core of the scam involved Pandian and alleged associates collecting bribes in exchange for facilitating environment clearances for major infrastructure, industrial, and real estate projects. The ED is probing suspicious links between government departments and developers, where environment clearance protocols were reportedly bypassed using influence, manipulation, and forged documentation.
Raids were conducted at properties and offices in Koyambedu and Ashok Nagar, Chennai — locations linked to shell companies and firms believed to be used for laundering illicit earnings. In Katpadi, premises belonging to a business associate were searched for corroborative documents.
While ED has yet to issue an official statement, sources say digital records, bank transactions, and property dealings have provided substantial leads to back the money laundering angle. Investigators are also looking into cross-border transactions and the possible role of front companies to obscure financial trails.
Ennore Wetlands Case: Allegations of Ecocide Emerge
Pandian’s alleged corruption is not limited to financial crimes. Environmentalists and civil society leaders have accused him of enabling one of Tamil Nadu’s worst ecological betrayals the disappearance of over 15,000 acres of wetlands from coastal regulation maps, especially around Ennore and the Kosasthalaiyar river.
In a scathing letter written in 2021, a group of activists including retired Madras High Court Justice D Hariparanthaman and musician-activist TM Krishna called on authorities to investigate how unapproved and illegal coastal maps were allegedly used to give clearance to large-scale land conversion projects. They named Pandian as a “key player” in facilitating this ecological erasure under the guise of official environmental regulation.
“The magnitude of investments and scale of land abuse, especially in Ennore, calls for a criminal investigation,” the letter read, pointing to the link between corruption in environmental clearance processes and irreversible ecological damage.