ED attaches Rs.130 crore assets in Jagan case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday attached properties worth Rs.130 crore in connection with the money laundering probe against YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy and businessman I. Syam Prasad Reddy.

The ED issued orders attaching the properties of five group companies of Syam Prasad Reddy, managing director of Indu Projects Ltd.

These includes 8,648 acres of land of Lepakshi Knowledge Hub in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, lands of Asara Realty Ventures in Maharashtra and of Cyberabad Hitech Integrated Township Development Corp Ltd in Telangana.

According to ED, the money laundering case was booked against the two on the basis of a chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

It accused Syam Prasad Reddy of paying bribes to Jaganmohan Reddy in the guise of investing in the latter's group companies as quid pro quo for undue favours received from the government of then undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Jaganmohan Reddy is the son of late former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Investigation under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) revealed that Syam Prasad Reddy laundered the proceeds through his group companies, said a statement from the ED's Hyderabad zonal office.

The ED identified proceeds of the crime in the form of movable and immovable properties.

It is one of the several PMLA cases the ED is probing against Jaganmohan Reddy, businessmen and senior officials.

The agency has already attached assets worth over Rs.1,000 crore in these cases.