Agri Gold group of companies had collected deposits from around 19 lakh customers and 32 lakh account holders in the name of real estate investment with a promise of high returns or a residential plot.
Hyderabad:In a major development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Hyderabad zone, on Monday returned attached properties worth Rs 3,339 crore to the victims of Ponzi schemes launched by Agri Gold group of companies. The present market value of the properties is expected to be more than Rs 6,000 crore.
The agency’s investigation revealed that the Agri Gold Group ran a fraudulent collective investment scheme in the guise of real estate business, for which more than 130 companies were floated. These companies collected deposits as ‘advances for plots’ from depositors, without commensurate land being available with the company.
By adhering to this business module, the accused lured lakhs of gullible persons into making deposits in the investment scheme. These funds were diverted to various industries like power, dairy, entertainment, health (Ayurvedic), farm land ventures without the knowledge of the depositors.
The companies failed to return the deposits either in cash or in kind as agreed upon. Thousands of commission agents, who were engaged by Agri Gold group to lure people, managed to collect around `6,380 crore from more than 32 lakh investor accounts.
During the course of PMLA investigation, movable and immovable properties spread across various states and worth around `4,141.2 crore were attached by ED. The agency officials also arrested Avva Venkata Rama Rao, Avva Venkata Seshu Narayana Rao and Avva Hema Sundara Vara Prasad in December 2020.
The ED filed restitution application under Section 8(8) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, before the special court (PMLA) of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Hyderabad, for the release of movable and immovable properties attached by it to the Crime Investigation Department (CID), Andhra Pradesh.
The court allowed the restitution petition paving the way for restoration of attached assets to the victims. The attached properties include more than 2,300 parcels of agricultural land, residential, commercial plots and apartments as well as an amusement park in the name of ‘Haailand’ at Chinnakakani, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh.
Out of the total 2,310 attached immovable properties, 2,254 are in Andhra Pradesh, 43 in Telangana, 11 in Karnataka and two in Odisha.
The ED initiated investigation against Agri Gold group of companies in 2018 on the basis of several FIRs registered in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha and Andaman and Nicobar.
Agri Gold group of companies had collected deposits from around 19 lakh customers and 32 lakh account holders in the name of real estate investment with a promise of high returns or a residential plot.
