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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached various immovable and movable properties worth Rs 25.20 crore belonging to the CEO of the Sun Pariwar group of companies, Methuku Ravinder, his family members, close aides and associates in a money laundering case, the agency said on Monday.
ED's Hyderabad zonal office has attached these properties under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the Sun Pariwar Ponzi scheme case. Of the total attached properties, immovable properties are worth Rs 8.99 crore and movable properties are worth Rs 16.20 crore in the form of bank balances and shares. ED initiated an investigation on the basis of various First Information Reports (FIRs) registered by the Telangana Police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Andhra Pradesh Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act, 1999 (APPDFEA) against Methuku Ravinder and his close associates for cheating the general public and gullible investors in the garb of offering high returns on investments made in Sun Pariwar Group of companies and Sun Mutually Aided Thrift and Credit Co-operative Society Limited. Methuku Ravinder and his associates cheated and defrauded more than 10,000 people and collected around Rs 158 crore from them, which are the proceeds of crime in this case. The ED investigation revealed that Methuku Ravinder and his associates floated various schemes for duping investors by offering returns of up to 100 per cent per year on investments and for this purpose, they started several companies under the umbrella of the Sun Pariwar Group of companies, viz. Methuku Chit Fund Pvt Ltd, Methuku Ventures Ltd, Metsun Nidhi Ltd, Methuku Herbal Limited, and Methuku Medical and Herbal Foundation. "The collected money was syphoned off to purchase various movable and immovable properties in the name of Methuku Ravinder and his family members and associates." The ED investigation also revealed that after Methuku Ravinder was released on bail in the Telangana Police case, he established new entities, Pudami Agro Farm Lands, Pudami Infra Projects (India) Ltd, and Divine Infra Developers, in the names of his close associates and again launched new Ponzi schemes wherein the funds collected were used to acquire properties. (ANI)
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