ED attaches Mangalagiri NRI hospital properties of ₹307 Cr in money laundering case

Hyderabad: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Thursday attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 307.61 crore in a money laundering case against Nimmagadda Upendranath, Mani Akkineni and others, members of the NRI Academy of Medical Sciences (NRIAS). The ED had conducted searches on the NRIAS and its members in December last.

The properties included Rs 15.61 crore in bank accounts, land and buildings in the two Telugu states. The ED initiated the investigation on the basis of FIRs registered by Mangalagiri police of AP for criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery in respect of funds of NRIAS (a society registered under Andhra Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2001).

The ED claimed that the accused fraudulently siphoned off society funds and diverted them for their personal gain. During Covid-19, patients were charged rates above those prescribed by the government. The money was collected in cash, never recorded in the books and subsequently diverted by the members and officials.

The ED alleged that admission fee from MBBS/PG students under management quota were collected in cash. “They also resorted to collection of fees from students under management quota in foreign currency in some of their societies formed in the USA instead of receiving the same in the accounts of NRIAS in India,”the ED alleged.

The accused also floated a private limited company, NRIAS Pvt. Ltd., which was chosen to deceive and induce the AP Medical Services and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APMSIDC) and others to deposit the amounts payable to the society for certain projects directly into the accounts of the private limited company," the ED alleged.

Society funds were diverted to associated entities and others in the guise of payment of taxes and construction activities.