Hyderabad: Enforcement Directorate, Hyderabad, has restituted properties worth Rs 611 crore to thousands of victims of the AgriGold ponzi scam in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The group had collected over Rs 6,000 crore from investors making fraudulent promises. The present market value of these attached properties is estimated to be more than Rs 1,000 crore. ED had earlier restituted properties worth Rs 3,339 crore (present market value of more than Rs 6,000 crore) in Feb. The total value of properties restituted in this case now stands at Rs 3,950 crore (present market value of more than Rs 7,000 crore).In May, ED filed a restitution application under Section 8(8) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before the special PMLA court of the metropolitan sessions judge, Hyderabad, for release of properties attached by it to the Crime Investigation Department (CID), Andhra Pradesh. CID had earlier attached these properties. The court allowed the ED’s petition and the attached properties will now be restored to the victims under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act.The attached assets for which restitution has been allowed include 397 parcels of agricultural land, residential/commercial plots and apartments. Out of the total attached immovable properties, 380 are located in Andhra Pradesh, 13 in Telangana and four in Karnataka.The money laundering probe was initiated in 2018 based on several FIRs registered in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha and Andaman & Nicobar Islands against AgriGold group of companies and its promoters . The 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. “Investigation revealed that AgriGold group ran a fraudulent collective investment scheme in the guise of real estate business, for which more than 130 companies were floated. These companies used to collect deposits as ‘advances for plots’ from depositors, without commensurate land being available with the company,” the agency said in its provisional attachment order.ED said, “The accused lured lakhs of gullible persons and got deposits. These funds were diverted to various industries such as power, dairy, entertainment etc., without the knowledge of depositors. The companies defaulted on returning the deposits either in cash or land. Thousands of commission agents were engaged by AgriGold to lure people, and they managed to collect around Rs 6,380 crore from more than 32 lakh investors.“During the course of the PMLA investigation, ED had attached movable and immovable properties across various states worth around Rs 4,141 crore.ED also arrested company officials Avva Venkata Rama Rao, Avva Venkata Seshu Narayana Rao and Avva Hema Sundara Vara Prasad in Dec 2020 and filed a prosecution complaint before the special PMLA court, Nampally, against 14 accused persons and entities in Feb 2021. Cognisance of the offence of money laundering was taken by the court in Aug 2023. Subsequently, a supplementary prosecution complaint was filed on March 28, 2024, against 22 accused, and court took cognisance in Nov 2024.
