ED attaches assets worth Rs 268 crore of Andhra-based firm, others in ponzi scam
India Today
Enforcement Directorate has attached properties worth more than Rs 268 crore linked to an Andhra Pradesh-based firm, others in a ponzi scam case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached movable and 376 immovable properties worth more than Rs 268 crore linked to an Andhra Pradesh-based firm in a ponzi scam case.
The attached properties belong to Akshaya Gold Farms and Villas India Limited, its other sister concerns, its directors, relatives of directors, and their benamidars.
ED had initiated the money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered in 2012 by Andhra Pradesh Police under sections of Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme Act and section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code against the firm, its directors - Bhogi Subramanyam, Devaki Harnath Babu, M Sudhakara Rao and others for allegedly defrauding lakhs of people through their money circulation pyramid scheme.
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As many as 29 FIRs were filed by the Andhra Pradesh Police. The Central Bureau of Investigation also filed an FIR in Odisha against the Akshaya Gold group.
ED has alleged that the firm deliberately cheated the public by collecting deposits without any legal permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other concerned authorities. The accused, according to officials, collected investments from lakhs of investors who were encouraged to join the business by organised agents, who were given a handsome commission to enroll new clients.
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