ED restores Agri Gold's assets worth Rs 611 crore to victims of Ponzi schemes

Hyderabad, June 13 The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Hyderabad Zonal Office has successfully accomplished the process of restoration of attached properties worth about Rs 611 crore to the victims of Ponzi schemes launched by Agri Gold group of companies.

The present market value of the impugned properties is expected to be more than Rs 1,000 crore, the ED said in a statement on Friday.

A city court on June 10 allowed the restitution petition filed by ED, thereby paving the way for the restoration of the attached assets to the victims.

According to the Central agency, the total value of properties restituted in this case now stands at Rs 3,950 crore (present market value of more than Rs 7,000 crore).

On February 24, the ED had announced that it had completed the process of restitution of attached properties worth about Rs 3,339 crore. The present market value is expected to be more than Rs 6,000 crore.

The restitution exercise marks a significant step in ED’s efforts to restore properties to their rightful claimants and to ensure that Proceeds of Crime (POC) are returned to those affected.

The ED had filed a restitution application under Section 8(8) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 before the Special Court (PMLA) of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Hyderabad for the release of movable and immoveable properties attached by it to the Crime Investigation Department (CID), Andhra Pradesh so that they could be restored to the victims of the Agri Gold ponzi schemes under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments (APPDFE) Act, 1999.

ED initiated an investigation against the Agri Gold group of companies in 2018 on the basis of several FIRs registered in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha and Andaman & Nicobar. The Agri Gold group of companies had collected deposits from around 19 lakh customers and 32 lakh account holders in the name of real estate investment with a promise of high returns or a residential plot.

The investigation revealed that Agri Gold Group ran a fraudulent Collective Investment Scheme in the guise of a real estate business, for which more than 130 companies were floated. These companies used to collect deposits as ‘advances for plots’ from depositors, without commensurate land being available with the company.

During the course of the PMLA investigation, movable and immovable properties spread across various states and worth around Rs 4,141.2 crore were attached by the ED.

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