NEW DELHI: Kannada actor Ranya Rao, daughter of a senior Karnataka IPS officer, ran a Rs 102 crore gold smuggling racket from Africa to Dubai to India, the Enforcement Directorate said.
The federal investigation agency during probe found that the smuggling operation was part of an organised international network that sourced gold from Africa.
The agency in its chargesheet has named Bellari-based gold dealer Tarun Konduru, the actor’s alleged associate. Sources said Rao and her associates smuggled 127.28 kg of gold valued at Rs 102.55 crore into India between March 2024 and March 2025. The smuggled gold was later sold in the domestic market through a network of handlers and jewellers.
The agency said that the accused had established Dubai-based Veera Diamonds Trading LLC in 2023 and attempted to source gold directly from suppliers in African nations including Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
But once, the actress got duped by Rs 2 crore by an Uganda agent who did not deliver the gold as promised, she shifted base to Dubai, the agency said. Later, the accused started buying gold from African dealers in Deira Gold Souk, Dubai’s largest gold market. The agency found that majority of gold in Dubai’s market originates from African mines.
“Rao carried large sums of cash to the market to procure the gold while Konduru used to file fraudulent customs declarations claiming that the gold was being shipped from Dubai to a third country, such as Switzerland or Thailand,” the official said.
Rao was arrested in March 2025 after returning from Dubai at Bengaluru airport. Upon her arrest, officials seized 14.2kg worth over Rs 12.56 crore which was concealed on her body.
After procuring the gold the actress would take the consignment gold at Dubai airport, conceal it on her person and smuggle it into India.
Between March 2024 and March 2025, Rao traveled from Dubai to India approximately 15 times and carried 127.87 kilograms of gold worth approximately Rs 102 crore. The smuggled gold was sold to various jewellers and handlers in India.
In March last year, when she was arrested she was carrying 14.2 kg of gold, some of which she was wearing, and the rest was concealed in her clothes. The officials tracking her movement grew suspicious since it was her fourth Dubai trip in 15 days and confronted her, leading to the seizure.
“At Bengaluru airport, she flaunted her connection saying she is the daughter of a senior IPS officer and bypassed mandatory custom checks that helped her in the smuggling racket,” the agency official said, adding investigations are underway to arrest other accused persons involved in the entire smuggling network.
The ED has attached assets belonging to Rao worth over Rs 34 crore. So far the ED’s probe has revealed the gold smuggling was part of an organised racket involving procurement of gold abroad, illegal import into India and subsequent laundering of proceeds through hawala and banking channels.
The actor allegedly took hefty commissions to smuggle goods from Dubai to Bengaluru, with a commission of approximately Rs 4-5 lakh for smuggling a kilogram of gold. The proceeds of the sale were generated in cash and settled through ‘hawala’ channels in India and abroad.