Hyderabad: ED attaches Rs. 71.61 cr assets under PMLA in KCC fish tank loan fraud case

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), seized movable and immovable properties valued at Rs. 19.11 crore and with market value Rs. 71.61 crore belonging to Nerella Venkata Rama Mohan Rao and others in KCC fish tank loan fraud case.

Hyderabad: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Hyderabad, had provisionally attached movable and immovable properties valued at Rs. 19.11 crore and with market value Rs. 71.61 crore belonging to Nerella Venkata Rama Mohan Rao and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The case pertains to alleged cheating of IDBI bank by fraudulently taking amounts under Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Fish Tank loans. The attached properties are in the name of aggregators, their family members and benamis and include immovable properties in the form of agricultural lands, commercial sites and plots in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and bank account balance of Rs. 15.55 lakh.

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The ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered by CBI, Visakhapatnam under various Sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Nerella Venkata Rama Mohan Rao and 10 others. The case was booked for allegedly fraudulently availing KCC Fish Tank loans in the names of 350 borrowers from IDBI Bank, Rajahmundry Branch to the tune of Rs. 311.05 crore.

The investigation by the ED revealed that Nerella Venkata Rama Mohan Rao, Badigantla Srinivasa Rao, Bandi Narayana Rao, Gidugu Satya Nagendra Srinivasa Rao, Karri Gandhi, Dr. Manepalli Surya Manikyam, Manepalli Suryanarayana Gupta, R V Chandramouli Prasad, Goluguri Rama Krishna Reddy, Vanapalli Narayana Rao and Vanapalli Pallaiah had acted as ‘aggregators’ for KCC Fish Tank loans sanctioned to 350 borrowers and were the ultimate beneficiaries.

These 11 aggregators conspired with the officials of IDBI bank and others and availed the loans totalling to Rs. 311.05 crore on the strength of fabricated documents, primarily in the names of their own employees, relatives, benamis and farmers who were ineligible for such loans. Further, the value of collateral securities offered against the loans was allegedly highly inflated in connivance with the valuer, the ED officials said.

The sanctioned loan amounts were allegedly diverted from the borrowers’ accounts to the aggregators and were utilized for acquisition of immovable properties in their name and their family members’/benamis’ names.

The diverted loan funds were also used by them for investment in their other business and for repayment of old loans. Investigation also revealed that properties acquired by the aggregators out of the loan amounts were again used by them as collateral securities for availing further loan, officials added.