Court flays Central Crime Branch's Ambidant probe

Bengaluru: A local court on Tuesday reserved its judgment on the bail plea moved by mining baron and former BJP minister Gali Janardhana Reddy for Wednesday after he was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) for money laundering and bribery charges.

While hearing the bail plea, the 1st Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court reprimanded CCB for digressing and shifting its focus on Reddy and ignoring the multi-crore ponzi scheme run by Ambidant Marketing Pvt Ltd where over 15,000 investors were cheated to the tune of over Rs 900 crore.

The court questioned CCB's move to make Reddy the accused number six in the Ambidant scam, based on the alleged confessions from company's owner Syed Fareed Ahmed, whom the CCB had arrested earlier.

“Are there any complaints against Reddy who is A6? Of the 1,500-odd complaints against Ambidant, do any of them mention Reddy directly? Were the charges against him filed merely on the statement of accused number one? Instead of acting on complaints, you are digressing the case,” Justice Jagadish stated.

Reddy was booked under sections 204 (destruction of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, and multiple sections of Prevention of Money Laundering Act. He was produced before the court on Sunday which sent him to judicial custody till November 24.

The CCB, based on the alleged confessions from Fareed that Reddy demanded 57 kg of gold worth Rs 18 crore to help him bail out from Enforcement Directorate investigation. 

The CCB had issued a lookout notice for Reddy and searched in Bengaluru, Ballari and Andhra Pradesh.

On Saturday afternoon, Reddy turned up to the CCB office along with his advocates RP Chandrasekhar. Reddy was subjected to overnight intense questioning and on Sunday CCB formally arrested him and produced before the court.

Reddy and his close aide Mehfuz Ali Khan denied the bribery allegation. Khan denied his involvement in organising the meeting between Fareed and Reddy, as alleged by Fareed to CCB, and his role in transporting the gold.

He also allegedly challenged CCB to prove his involvement in Ambidant scam.