Andhra Pradesh: Keshava Group assets attached

Hyderabad: The AP government has issued orders for attaching the properties of Keshava Reddy Group of Educational Institutions in a cheating case, to protect the interests of depositors.

The state government directed the CID to attach properties of the group located in AP worth Rs 80,67,14,446 and in TS worth Rs 24,55,12,738.

In its order, the government stated that the additional director general of police, CID, had informed that during searches conducted by CID, it was found that certain immovable properties had been purchased from the money of depositors during the activities of the educational institutions.

The government had ordered the CID probe in a cheating case against Kesava Reddy, the owner of Kesava Reddy Group of Educational institutions, of Kurnool district.

The government order said that Mr Reddy, with fraudulent and dishonest intentions, cheated the public by receiving crores of rupees towards school fees by promising that the amount would be refunded after completion of education of the depositors’ wards.

He allegedly gave false advertisements about Keshava Reddy Schools / Institutions with false promises and schemes. He thus received huge amounts from the public by offering attractive rates of interest for the purpose of developing his educational Institutions.

With the money he allegedly purchased the properties in his name and others.
The accused later defaulted and did not refund the deposits either in cash or in kind or in any other manner to the depositors. He collected around Rs 750 crore and disappeared suddenly in August 2014. 

The additional director general of police, CID, stated that based on the complaints of depositors, five cases had been registered at various police stations in Kurnool district and those cases were taken over by CID for further investigation. 

Mr Reddy had realised that collection of deposits without RBI permission was in violation of the Andhra Pradesh Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act, 1999.

Subsequently, he started taking back the deposit receipts from the parents of the children and in replacement he gave promissory notes, with an intention to escape from the clutches of the law.

As he started expanding his schools at various places, the costs increased and the money spent was not remunerative. Thus, for the past two years, the chairman has not refunded the deposited money to the parents.

The ADGP informed that during the searches conducted by CID, certain immovable properties purchased from the depositors’ money were identified.

It had been proposed that these properties, with worth Rs 80,67,14,446 in AP and Rs 24,55,12,738 in TS, be attached to protect the interests of the depositors.

Accordingly the state government issued an interim order for attachment of the properties under Section 3 of the Andhra Pradesh Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act, 1999.