ED raids 15 locations in TTD ghee adulteration case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Hyderabad Zonal Office, carried out search operations at 15 locations across multiple states in connection with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) ghee adulteration fraud.

Hyderabad: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Hyderabad Zonal Office, on Wednesday conducted search operations at 15 locations across various states in connection with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) ghee adulteration fraud case.

The searches were conducted in Ahilyanagar, Bikaner, Dehradun, Delhi, Dindigul, Guntur, Mumbai and Roorkee.

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According to an ED release, the searches covered the residential and office premises of Pomil Jain, Vipin Jain, Raju Rajasekaran, Rajesh Mansukhlal Chavda, Apurva Vinaykanth Chavda, Machindra Shantaram Lanke, Ajay Kumar Sugandh, Mahesh Kumar Rohira and Ashish Agarwal.

During the search operations, cash amounting to Rs 60 lakh was seized.

The searches also led to disclosures regarding investments of Proceeds of Crime (PoC) in properties valued at more than Rs 45 crore, apart from details of several immovable properties held in the names of the accused persons and their family members.

The search operations further covered the dairy plants of A.R. Dairy Food Pvt. Ltd., Dindigul; Malganga Milk; Agro Products Pvt. Ltd., Ahilyanagar; and Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk Pvt. Ltd., Roorkee.

Various incriminating documents were seized, indicating the use of a complex network of legal entities to facilitate bogus sale and purchase transactions for the concealment and layering of Proceeds of Crime.

The central agency said it initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on the basis of an FIR registered against A.R. Dairy Food Pvt. Ltd. and others.

It is alleged that the accused persons, in conspiracy with certain TTD officials, committed criminal breach of trust, cheating, and caused wrongful loss to TTD by supplying adulterated ghee.

The investigation conducted so far has revealed that the Proceeds of Crime generated through the supply of adulterated ghee to TTD were subsequently invested in immovable properties through a complex web of interconnected legal entities and business concerns to conceal the illicit origin of funds.

Further investigation is in progress, the ED said.