HYDERABAD: Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials filed a prosecution complaint under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002 against Akshaya Gold Farms and Villas India Limited, its promoters/directors Bhogi Subramanyam, Devaki Harnath Babu, M. Sudhakara Rao and others in a ponzi scam. The Court has taken cognisance of the offence of money laundering.
ED initiated investigations on the basis of an FIR registered by Ongole I Town police of Andhra Pradesh Police under various sections of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme Act and IPC for alleged cheating and defrauding lakhs of gullible public. Multiple FIRs were registered by AP Police, Telangana Police, Karnataka Police and CBI Odisha against Akshaya Gold, its directors and others under various sections of IPC and other sections related to respective State Public Deposit Acts.
The agency investigation revealed that Akshaya Gold cheated the public by collecting deposits without any permission from the RBI and SEBI. The accused collected funds from lakhs of gullible investors who were enticed by agents who were given handsome commissions to enrol new clients. A hierarchy of agents was created in a pyramidal manner to earn high commissions. Investors were lured into investing their life savings by promising sites in advertised real estate ventures and offering high rates of return in various deposit schemes.
Earlier, ED had attached assets worth Rs 268.24 Crores including 376 immovable properties in the form of agricultural lands, commercial plots, buildings, flats etc. situated in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana state and Maharashtra and movable properties in the form of bank account balances, investments in shares.
