Kavitha bought land with liquor scam profits: ED chargesheet

HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate has informed a designated court that Bharata Rashtra Samithi MLC and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K. Kavitha bought costly land parcels in and around the state capital of Hyderabad with the “proceeds of crime” (profits) in the Delhi liquor scam case.

The supplementary chargesheet, filed by the investigating agency in a local court designated to try money laundering cases in Delhi a few days ago, made startling revelations about the financial transactions that Kavitha and her husband allegedly carried out with Phoenix Group of companies, against which the Income Tax (I-T) Department had conducted raids recently.

Witnesses who deposed before the agency also revealed that the land was bought dirt cheap because of the political clout enjoyed by Kavitha.

For the first time, Kavitha’s husband D.R. Anil Kumar figured in the chargesheet of the liquor scam. The ED said he took part in a meeting, held at his residence, to discuss the proposed liquor business in Delhi, along with Kavitha, “Aurobindo” Sarath Chandra Reddy, Arun Pillai and Sameer Mahendru.

According to the ED, Kavitha’s former auditor G. Buchi Babu confessed that he bought a property of 3/4 acres for Engrowth Capital owned by Anil Kumar, from Phoenix Group, through its chief operating officer Srihari. He confessed that Kavitha bought another property of 25,000 sq ft from Srihari, the market value of which was Rs 1,760 per sq ft, against the actual payment of Rs 1,260 sq ft.

Besides, Buchi Babu, who turned approver in the ED case, Magunta Raghava Reddy, son of YSR Congress MP Magunta Srinivasula Reddy, also confirmed Kavitha’s involvement in the Delhi liquor business while decoding the text messages between him and Buchi Babu, which the ED had retrieved from their mobile phones.

It was confessed that the “madam” mentioned in the text messages while finalising shares in the Indo Spirits Group was none other than Kavitha. From the text messages, it was also found that Kavitha used her clout to get the wholesale business of ABD for her close associate Srujan Reddy and refused to give a share in the dealership to others, as happened in the Indo Spirits, which the ED alleged, was held in benami by Kavitha and Magunta family along with Delhi-based Sameer Mahendru. Kavitha got a partnership in Indo Spirits in the name of Arun Pillai in exchange for funds she had paid to AAP through Vijay Nair, the ED stated in the chargesheet.

According to the investigating agency, Kavitha arranged Rs 100 crore in cash for the Aam Admi Party in return for the wholesale dealership for Indo Spirits, which earned a profit of Rs 192 crore in the excise year of 2021-22. For faster recovery of the investment made, the South Group, ED said, opted for credit notes from wholesale dealers/retailers.