ED Attaches Rs 21 Crore Assets of Karnataka Congress MLA in Illegal Iron Ore Export Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Bengaluru has provisionally attached properties valued at Rs 21 crore belonging to Karnataka Congress MLA Satish Krishna Sail. This action comes as part of a money laundering investigation related to alleged illegal iron ore exports.

The attachment order was issued on November 6 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The properties are owned by Sail through his Goa-based company, Shree Mallikarjun Shipping Pvt Ltd (SMSPL).

According to the ED's chargesheet, Forest Department officials inspected Belekeri Port on March 15, 2010, discovering substantial iron ore quantities lacking valid permits from the Department of Mines & Geology and the Forest Department. This led to the seizure of approximately five lakh metric tonnes of iron ore fines.

The ED previously conducted extensive search operations across 15 premises in Karnataka, Goa, Delhi, and Mumbai. During these searches, authorities arrested Sail and confiscated cash and gold worth approximately Rs 8 crore. Although Sail was granted interim medical bail, a special PMLA court canceled this on November 7, 2025.

The attached properties include 12,500 square meters of open land in Chicalim Village (Mormugao, Goa), 16,850 square meters of agricultural land known as "Pedro Galle Cotta" in South Goa, and multiple floors of a commercial building in Vasco Da Gama. The current market valuation of these assets is estimated at around Rs 64 crore.

Investigators discovered that Sail, who serves as Managing Director of SMSPL, claimed to have purchased 1.54 lakh metric tonnes of seized iron ore fines from various suppliers. However, the ED's investigation revealed that Sail allegedly collaborated with a port conservator to illegally export the seized iron ore to China using vessels MV Columbia and MV Mandarin Harvest. This operation reportedly involved creating complex transaction layers through a shell company in Hong Kong.