Probe Agency Attaches Rs 21 Crore Worth Assets Of Karnataka Congress MLA

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bengaluru Zonal Office, has provisionally attached immovable properties valued at Rs 21 crore of Karnataka Congress MLA Satish Krishna Sail as part of a money laundering investigation against him related to the alleged illegal export of iron ore.

Under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), an order was issued on November 6. The attached assets belong to Sail and are held through his Goa-based company, Shree Mallikarjun Shipping Pvt Ltd (SMSPL).

According to the chargesheet filed by the Law Enforcement Agency, officials from the Forest Department had inspected the Belekeri Port on 15 March 2010 and discovered a large quantity of iron ore within the port area.

Upon investigation, it was found that certain iron ore stocks lacked valid permits and passes issued by the Department of Mines & Geology and the Forest Department. An official document (mahazar) was issued, seizing around five lakh metric tonnes of iron ore fines.

Earlier, the ED had conducted search operations across 15 premises located in Karnataka, Goa, Delhi, and Mumbai. 

During the searches, the agency arrested Sail and seized cash and gold worth around Rs 8 crore. He was later granted an interim medical bail, which was cancelled by a special PMLA court on 7 November 2025.

The attached properties include 12,500 square metres of open land in Chicalim Village, Mormugao in Goa, 16,850 square metres of agricultural land known as "Pedro Galle Cotta" in Mormugao Taluk, South Goa, and multiple floors of a commercial building at Vasco Da Gama in Goa. 

The current market value of these assets is estimated at approximately Rs 64 crore.

According to the investigation, Sail, Managing Director of SMSPL, claimed to have purchased 1.54 lakh metric tonnes of seized iron ore fines from various suppliers. 

However, the ED found that Sail, in collusion with a port conservator, had illegally exported the seized iron ore to China through vessels - MV Columbia and MV Mandarin Harvest - by creating a layer of transactions via a shell company in Hong Kong.