Paradise Papers leak: ED seizes Hyderabad-based Agri Gold's assets worth Rs 4,100 cr

A day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the three promoters of the Hyderabad-based Agri Gold group of companies in a money laundering case related to the Paradise Papers leak case, the central agency has attached assets worth nearly Rs 4,100 crore.

The three accused -- Avva Venkata Rama Rao, Avva Venkata S Narayana Rao and Avva Hema Sundara Vara Prasad -- have been arrested under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and sent to 14 days of judicial custody.

The ED has attached Haailand Amusement Park in Andhra Pradesh, shares of several companies, plant and machinery and 2,809 land properties located across Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka totalling Rs 4,109 crore.

Besides, the agency also conducted raids at the premises of promoters and auditors of the company across Vijayawada and Hyderabad and seized Rs 22 lakh in cash, property documents and digital devices.

The CBI started investigating the company after assessing FIRs filed against it in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana for allegedly defrauding around 32 lakh investors of funds worth Rs 6,380 crore.

The accused "engaged" thousands of commission agents to lure people with various schemes for hefty commission and managed to collect Rs 6,380 crore.

The accused and his seven brothers created at least 150 companies to launder money collected from the investors. "Instead, Avva Venkata Rama Rao and his family went on a siphoning spree and illegally diverted the public deposits and invested in myriad verticals and private companies that were directly owned by their family," PTI reported.

The names of the accused also figured in the Paradise Papers leaks . Infamous law firm Mossback Fonseca in Cayman Islands helped Rao in creating hundreds of shell firms.

Edited with PTI inputs by Mehak Agarwal

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