Money laundering case: ED attaches YSR chief Jagan’s assets worth Rs 749 crore

Jagan’s attached properties include real estate and fixed assets of various companies worth Rs 344 crore and movable properties, including shares and FDs.

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The ED had earlier attached his assets worth Rs 1,775 crore. With Wednesday’s attachment order, the ED has attached Rs 2,524 crore worth of property owned by Jagan.

The list of properties attached included Jagan’s palatial Lotus Pond residence in Jubilee Hills, Sakshi Towers in Banjara Hills having offices of Sakshi newspaper and TV channel, Bharathi Cements, Sandur Power Project, 903-acre land in Guntur, and land in Hakimpet on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The ED had registered a case against Jagan and others for money laundering under PMLA based on the chargesheet filed by the CBI, accusing Jagan of allegedly receiving bribes in his companies in the guise of investments from businessmen and companies in lieu of alleged undue favours granted to them by the Andhra Pradesh government headed at that time by his father late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

According to ED, Jagan received various investments in his companies after 2004 when Y S Rajasekara Reddy became chief minister.

The agency claimed that Bharathi Cement Corporation Private Limited, which did not have any major investment other than by Jagan and his associates till 2007, received huge funds from companies of Nimmagada Prasad of the VANPIC Group from June 2007 to April 2010 with huge and unsubstantiated premium as quid pro quo amounting to Rs 442.80 crore.

ED further alleged that Jagan also got a mining licence fraudulently in the name of Bharathi Cements and received lime stone from mines allotted illegally in Kadapa district by the then state government.

The value of the lime stocks worked out to more than Rs 152 crore, according to the ED.

Jagan, ED claimed, then sold the shares of Bharathi Cements to Parficim SAS France at Rs 671.20 per share and obtained wrongful gain of Rs 416 crore apart from retaining 49 per cent share either directly or in the name of his group company, Silicon Builders Private Limited. Later, he appointed his wife Y S Bharathi Reddy as chairman of Bharathi Cements.

ED said its investigations under PMLA revealed that Jagan laundered the proceeds of share sale through his group companies Sandur Power Corporation, Classic Reality, Silicon Builders, Saraswati Power and Industries, Nivish Infrastructure, Shalom Infrastructure, Capstone Infrastructure, Utopia Infrastructure, Harish Infrastructure, Marvel Infrastructure, Silicon Infrastructure, Revan Infra, Inspire Hotels, Bhagavath Sannidhi Estates.

The proceeds of the sale Bharathi Cements’ shares, according to ED, was also used for various investments in Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka. Jagan allegedly also transferred huge funds to his wife.

The agency claimed that the YSR Congress chief is still receiving huge amounts as dividends from Bharathi Cements for his 49 per cent holding. All his shares have now been attached at acquisition cost of Rs 38.08 crore.