ED Raids Across City in High-Profile Cheating Case

Chennai:  The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches on Friday at properties belonging to Syvanus King Peter, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Ocean LifeSpaces India Private Limited following a cheating complaint filed by Sriram Balasubramaniam, a former director of the same company who was later ousted by Peter.

The initial complaint filed by Sriram was with the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Chennai Police in August 2023. Later, case has now been taken up by the ED by filing an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and opening the case with the searches on Friday at several locations in Chennai.

The complaint filed by Sriram with the CCB stated that when he was a part of the company, there were many disagreements between him and Peter, which led to several fights following which he was ousted from the company by Peter and was cheated by the promoters of the company without paying him the money he was promised. Subsequently, Sriram also moved to the National Company Law Tribunal challenging his removal from the Ocean LifeSpaces company as a director.

On Friday morning, a team of six ED officials along with the security of CRPF officers arrived at the residence of Peter in Ashok Nagar, Chennai and began the searches. Similarly, another property belonging to Peter at Kotturpuram area was also simultaneously searched by the ED officials at around 7.50 am in the morning.

Meanwhile, it is notable that a few days ago, it was speculated that a police official in a higher ranking was paid off in crores in relation to the CCB case regarding the Ocean LifeSpaces India realty firm. Though there was no official confirmation or an on record statement regarding the same, sources say that following the Madras High Court (MHC) order in December 2023 to transfer the case to a Crime Branch CID under a high level officer and the Supreme Court order last week levying a stay on the MHC order has now increased the speed of the investigation.