ED notice to Mahesh Babu in money-laundering case linked to realty firms

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned top Telugu actor in a money laundering case linked to realty firms Surana Group and Sai Surya Developers.

The central agency has asked the actor to appear for an inquiry on 27 April. Mahesh Babu is the brand ambassador for the two firms and reportedly received over Rs 11 crore for appearing in their advertisements. While Surana Group reportedly paid Rs 5.5 crore to the actor, he received Rs 5.9 crore from Sai Surya Developers for promotional activities. The ED is likely to investigate the remuneration paid to Mahesh Babu by the two firms.

The ED notice to Mahesh Babu came less than a week after it conducted searches at the premises of the realty firms in Hyderabad. The agency said that unaccounted cash transactions worth Rs 100 crore were unearthed and Rs 74.5 lakh cash seized during searches in connection with an ongoing investigation against Sai Surya Developers and others.

The central agency conducted searches at four premises in Hyderabad and Secunderabad on 17 April under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The ED stated that it initiated investigation based on several FIRs registered by Telengana Police against Narendra Surana, director of Bhagyanagar Properties Ltd., K. Sathish Chandra Gupta, proprietor of Sai Surya Developers, and others under various sections of the IPC for defrauding and cheating gullible investors of their hard earned money in the name of advance for sale of plots involving huge amounts.

The ED investigation revealed that the accused orchestrated fraudulent schemes involving unauthorised land layouts, selling the same plots to different customers, accepting payments without proper agreements, and false assurances of plot registrations.

“Their actions caused financial losses to numerous investors. By cheating the general public with predetermined and dishonest intention, they generated proceeds of crime which were diverted and laundered for wrongful gain to themselves and related entities,” the agency said.

The ED searches resulted in the seizure of incriminating documents evidencing details of amounts collected by fraudulent means from various investors as well.