A special PMLA court has issued orders for attachment of properties worth Rs 143.74 crore of YSR Congress party chief Jagan Mohan Reddy and his associates in a disproportionate assets case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
In a shot in the arm to the investigators, the court has termed these frozen properties, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), as "proceeds of crime and involved in money laundering".
The direction of the Adjudicating Authority came after the ED had issued attachment orders against Ramky group of companies in January this year following an investigation which allegedly found that illegal favours were done by the then Andhra Pradesh government for this company and the firm gave kickbacks for favours by remitting illegal money in a firm owned by Jagan Reddy.
The ED, in the January issued order, also had attached fixed deposits worth Rs 10 crore held in the name of Jagati Publications owned by the Kadapa MP kept in the Oriental Bank of Commerce, Jubilee hills branch Hyderabad.
Jagan, who was arrested a year ago, is at present lodged in Chanchalguda jail in Hyderabad in the same case.
The instances pertain to the tenure of Jagan's father and former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who died in a helicopter crash in 2009.
"We come to the prima facie conclusion that the defendants (Ramky group and Jagati publications) have committed the scheduled offences, generated proceeds of crime and laundered them. No doubt the properties attached are proceeds of crime and are involved in money laundering. We therefore order confirmation of the provisional attachment order," a bench of Chairperson of the Authority S K Sharma and K Raamamoorthy said in its order of June 6.
The agency is probing the case on the basis of the FIR filed by CBI to investigate alleged disproportionate assets amassed by Jagan especially during the tenure of his father as CM.
During the course of investigation, the ED claimed that it had found that Ms Ramky Pharma City (India) LTD illegally sold land falling in greenbelt area and acquired a sum of Rs 133.74 crore.
"In lieu of the favour from the state government of Andhra Pradesh, A Ayodhya Rami Reddy, Chairman of Ms Ramky Group paid a sum of Rs 10 crore in equity of Ms Jagati Publications Private LTD (a company owned and controlled by Jagan Mohan Reddy)," it alleged.
"The payment of Rs 10 crore was kickback for the favours done by the state government. Thus, the investigation under PMLA has so far revealed that shareholders of Ms Ramky Pharma City (India) LTD are Ms Ramky Infrastructure LTD, Ms Ramky Estates and Farms Limited and APIIC," it had said in its order.
The ED had alleged that Ramky Pharma City Ltd had sold the plots in non-SEZ area and leased out plots in SEZ area in the Pharma City named as Ms Jawahar Lal Nehru Pharma City. In the illegal sale and lease of land falling under the greenbelt area, by sale of 23 plots in non-SEZ area and 8 plots in SEZ area the generation of proceeds of crime was to the tune of Rs 133.74 crore.
"Ms Ramky Pharma City (India) Ltd was illegally benefited by this amount as a result of criminal activity. Further payment of Rs 10 crore by Ramky Group of Companies to Ms Jagati Publications is the proceeds of crime which was transferred as equity contribution in the company. Thus, total amount of the proceeds of crime is Rs 143.74 crore," the ED had alleged.
An ED attachment is an enforcement action under anti-money laundering laws to restrict the accused from taking benefit out of the properties or assets they have created/earned through illegal means.