ED attaches assets worth `4,109 cr in Agri Gold Ponzi scheme case

New Delhi: The ED has attached properties worth Rs 4,109 crore spread across various states in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged Ponzi scheme, the agency said on Thursday.

The case pertains to the Agri Gold Group of Companies. Three promoters of the group were arrested by the central agency on Tuesday.

"The attached assets include 2,809 landed properties, Haailand Amusement Park in the name of Arka Leisure and Entertainments Private Limited in Andhra Pradesh (spread over 48 acres) and shares of various companies, plants and machinery," the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement on Thursday.

The assets attached provisionally under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are located in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

The accused can appeal against the ED order before the Adjudicating Authority of the PMLA within

six months.

The ED initiated a probe into the matter after going through various police FIRs filed against the accused in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka for allegedly duping over 32 lakh investors after funds worth Rs 6,380 crore were collected from them.

The "main accused" are Avva Venkata Rama Rao, Avva Venkata S Narayana Rao and Avva Hema Sundara Vara Prasad -- the promoters of the Agri Gold Group of Companies who have been arrested by the ED.

The agency initiated the probe against the accused after going through various police FIRs filed against them in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.

Investors from Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Chhattisgarh were also duped through the Ponzi scheme, it had said.

"The scam was perpetrated by Avva Venkata Rama Rao through the Agri Gold Group of Companies. He had earlier worked in the Golden Forest CIS (collective investment scheme) fraud and having learnt the tricks of the trade in that scheme, had hatched a well-planned conspiracy.