Thiruvananthapuram: Swapna Suresh, a prime accused in the Trivandrum Airport gold smuggling case, and the top brass of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram received a commission of Rs 3.6 crore from a construction company for the Life Mission project in Vadakkenchery, the Enforcement Directorate has said.
According to the agency, the commission was paid to a senior official of the UAE Consulate and an Egyptian citizen at the Consulate for allowing funding for the project.
Swapna also received Rs 70 lakh in 2019 from the company that was awarded the contract for visa stamping at the consulate. She also got a commission of $1,000 for every kilo of gold she helped smuggle, the ED said.
According to the Enforcement Directorate, the Vadakkanchery Life Mission project, meant to provide flats to those who lost their homes in floods, is worth Rs 18 crore. Of this, Rs 3.6 crore was given as commission to Swapna and the top brass of the UAE consulate. Swapna shared the amount with a top consulate official and the Egyptian citizen at the consulate, the ED said.
The ED said Sandeep Nair, another accused in the gold smuggling case, had negotiated with the construction company to take over the construction contract. It is not clear whether the commission was shared with anyone else or if the company had paid commission to other people, too.
Swapna took $1,000 for every kilo of gold smuggled by saying she had to pay a superior official at the consulate. The diplomatic parcels with smuggled gold were broken open by Ramees' men at Sandeep's residence.
Ramis often gave Swapna a figure lower than the amount of gold smuggled to reduce the commission he had to pay her, the ED has found.