BENGALURU/BELAGAVI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 31 immovable assets and bank deposits in 32 bank accounts, amounting to Rs 31.35 crore, held in the names of Anand Balakrishna Appugol, former chairman, Krantiveer Sangolli Rayanna Co-operative Society (KRCS), and his associates under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in a fraud case, said ED sources.
The agency said the attached immovable properties are in the form of agricultural land, commercial complexes, a house, held in the names of Anand, his wife Prema, Shivmurthy Chivgol, Sanjay Patil and Mahantesh Angadi, all residents of Belagavi. The ED investigation is based on the FIR filed by Khadebazaar PS, Belagavi on September 1, 2017, against Anand and 15 others.
“The accused had embezzled more than Rs 232.69 crore, which was collected from more than 1,300 members of the Society through fixed deposits, by promising them a high rate of interest ranging from 12 to 16 per cent annually,” said the officer. “The accused did not return the money to depositors in time,” the source added. Anand and his secretary were arrested and lodged in judicial custody at the Central Jail, Belagavi.
Sources said Appugol bought more than 100 properties, most of them posh houses across the country. Although attempts were made by his associates to sell these properties after Appugol was jailed, police prevented it. Ever since Appugol shut down his offices and branches in 2017 and absconded, thousands of the society’s customers are waiting with fingers crossed to get their deposits back.
Whether they do, with the ED attaching the society’s assets and accounts, remains to be seen. Recently, CID officials submitted a chargesheet to court in connection with the case registered against Appugol’s society. CID officials investigating the fraud had arrested many people over the years and filed a 2063-page chargesheet.