BELAGAVI: All 110 properties, including several posh bungalows, owned by Kannada film producer Anand Appugol and his associates will be auctioned if the application filed by the local administration in a local court here gets the nod.
Appugol, who was the chairman of Sangolli Rayanna Cooperative Society of Belagavi, has allegedly cheated thousands of the depositors to the tune of Rs 250 crore. Several cases have been filed against him in connection with cheating the customers and he has been jailed for the last few years. He had closed all branches of his society abruptly without returning the deposits of the customers.
Belagavi Assistant Commissioner filed an application in the local court seeking permission to auction all his properties. According to sources, the government is now planning to clear the dues of the society's customers by selling off his properties. He has bought several posh bungalows and villas in different parts of the country including some in Hyderabad and Delhi.
Appugol also owns a big farm near Munoli in Belagavi district which is allegedly owned in the name of one of his family members. Producer of famous Kannada film - Krantiveer Sangolli Rayanna- Appugol was leading a lavish lifestyle before he was booked by the police for closing down his cooperative institution without returning the deposits of thousands of his customers.
According to a senior advocate from Belagavi, who was one of his legal cousels, most of Appugol's 110 properties are owned by people other than his family members. "At least 90 per cent of his properties are owned by others. The government may have halted the sale of all these properties but it is difficult to take possession of these properties if they are owned by others. It is difficult to prove that Appugol invested in these properties,'' he said.
The owners of these properties will certainly get a stay from the court to halt the acquisition of their properties, he said.
Several members, relatives, and friends of Appugol have been booked and jailed in connection with cases filed by society's customers against him. A large number of the customers have been staging protests in front of his residence in Belagavi for a long time demanding their deposits back but in vain.