Court confirms ED attachment of assets order worth over Rs 749 crore against Y S Jaganmohan Reddy

A special anti-money laundering court in New Delhi has confirmed an attachment of assets order worth over Rs 749 crore issued by the ED against YSR Congress chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, his wife and others in a money laundering case.

The agency had attached the said assets in June this year as part of its probe against Jagan under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

“On a thorough perusal of the Provisional Attachment Order (PAO), relied upon documents, the investigations conducted by the ED and the statements recorded....and on careful consideration of the arguments advanced on behalf of the complainant (ED) and defendants (Jagan and others) undersigned comes to the prima facie conclusion that the defendants have committed the scheduled offences, generated proceeds of crime and laundered them.

“No doubt, the properties attached are proceeds of crime or value there of and are involved in money laundering.  Undersigned therefore orders confirmation of the above PAO,” an order issued by a three-member bench of the Adjudicating Authority of the PMLA here said.

The bench comprised Authority Chairperson Mukesh Kumar, Member (Law) Tushar V Shah and Member (Administration) Devendra Singhai.

The order added that the defendants “are in possession of proceeds of crime within the meaning of provisions of PMLA...”

The Enforcement Directorate, while issuing the order in June, had said its investigations found that Jagan laundered the proceeds of crime through his group companies Ms Sandur Power Company Pvt Ltd, Ms Classic Realty Pvt Ltd, Ms Silicon Builders Pvt Ltd, Ms Saraswati Power and Industries Pvt Ltd and 10 other firms in the form of investments, purchase of movable and immovable properties, third party payments among others.

Apart from it, the agency had said, Ms Bharathi Cement Corporation Pvt Ltd has received the proceeds of crime in the form of limestone mined from the mines allotted illegally to them in Kadapa district by then Andhra Pradesh government. The value of limestone works out to be more than Rs 152 crore during the relevant period, it had said.

“During investigations under PMLA, the proceeds of crime involved in money laundering were identified in the form of movable (Rs 404,72,32,182) and immovable properties (Rs 344,38,10,378) totally valued at Rs 749.10 crore,” the ED order had said.

These attached properties are spread across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.