IAS Officer's Assets Seized: Probing the Wealth Beyond Means

The Enforcement Directorate has attached nine residential units, valued at Rs 14 crore, of retired IAS officer M L Tayal, who once served as principal secretary to former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. This move is part of an ongoing investigation into a disproportionate assets case against Tayal, the agency stated on Monday.

The properties, located in Chandigarh, Delhi, and Gurugram, were provisionally attached on June 30 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Enforcement Directorate revealed these assets include two houses and seven apartments, amounting to a total worth of Rs 14.06 crore.

The money laundering case originates from a CBI FIR that accuses Tayal and his family of acquiring assets disproportionate to their known income sources during his tenure from March 6, 2005, to October 31, 2009, with Hooda and as a CCI member until 2014. The investigation examined income-tax records and stock market activities linked to the Tayal family, with findings pointing to illicit asset accumulation during the specified period.

(With inputs from agencies.)