Indian authorities investigating a former state chief minister accused of corruption are likely to seize property from him worth millions of dollars, a report said Sunday. Madhu Koda is in prison facing charges of accepting hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks while dishing out mining contracts which he used to buy mines in Africa and properties across Asia.
The Press Trust of India said the federal enforcement directorate was "all set" to sieze property worth one billion rupees (23 million dollars) belonging to Koda and two of his close colleagues.
"The directorate has received permission from a court to attach various identified properties belonging to Koda and his close associates," the news agency quoted unnamed officials as saying. The controversial assets would remain in government custody for at least three months, they said.
Tax officials allege Koda plundered more than 400 million dollars while he was mines minister and later chief minister of the impoverished Jharkhand state in east India.