AgriGold case: Rs 4,109 crore assets attached by ED

The ED has initiated an investigation under the PMLA based on multiple FIRs lodged in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.
Thousands of commission agents were hired to lure people with various schemes for hefty commission and managed to collect Rs 6,380 crore from over 32 lakh investors. (Express Illustrations)
Thousands of commission agents were hired to lure people with various schemes for hefty commission and managed to collect Rs 6,380 crore from over 32 lakh investors. (Express Illustrations)

HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 4,109 crore under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in the AgriGold ponzi fraud case.

The attached assets included 2,809 landed properties, Haailand Amusement Park of M/s Arka Leisure and Entertainments Private Limited in AP spread over 48 acres, shares of various companies, plants and machinery. 

The attached properties are located in various districts across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. The ED on Tuesday arrested four persons, including AgriGold chairman A Venkata Rama Rao, and directors Sheshu Venkata Ramana and Hemasundara Prasad, on the charges of money laundering.

The ED has initiated an investigation under the PMLA based on multiple FIRs lodged in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. The scam was perpetrated by accused Avva Venkata Rama Rao through the AgriGold Group of Companies, the agency said. Avva Venkata Rama Rao hatched a well-planned conspiracy. 

With the help of his seven brothers and other associates, he set up more than 150 companies and started collecting deposits from the public with a promise of providing developed plots and farm lands. He even offered withdrawal facility at a high rate of return on maturity and pre-term maturity. 

Thousands of commission agents were hired to lure people with various schemes for hefty commission and managed to collect Rs 6,380 crore from over 32 lakh investors. In the end, the gullible investors neither got plots nor their deposits. 

Investigation under PMLA further revealed that AgriGold Group Companies used to lure gullible people to join as depositors in their schemes either directly or through their agents under the pretext of real estate deals. 

It also revealed that Avva Venkata Rama Rao and his family went on siphoning money and illegally diverted the public deposits and invested in myriad verticals and in private companies which were directly owned by their family. 

Their names also figured in the Paradise Leaks and they had incorporated companies with the help of the infamous Mossack Fonseca in Cayman Islands. 

Attached properties located in 5 States

The properties attached by the ED were in Anantapur, Kurnool, Krishna, Chittoor, Guntur, Kadapa, Vizianagaram, East Godavari, West Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Prakasam, Srikakulam, Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh; Bengaluru, Kolar, Yadgir, Mandya districts of Karnataka, Odisha’s Khurda district, and Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district. 

They were also in Mahbubnagar, Narayanpet, Khammam, Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Vikarabad, Medchal, Malkajgiri, Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar districts of Telangana. 

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