ED restores Rs 6000 crore Agri Gold assets to ponzi scheme victims

New Delhi [India], February 24 : In a significant development, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has successfully reinstated attached properties worth approximately Rs 3,339 crore (at the time of attachment) to the victims of the Agri Gold Ponzi scheme. The current market value of these assets is estimated to be over Rs 6,000 crore.
This 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.
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Making the announcement on Monday, ED said it had filed restitution application under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 before the special court in Hyderabad for release of movable and immoveable properties attached by it to the Crime Investigation Department (CID), Andhra Pradesh (insofar as such properties were also attached by Andhra Pradesh CID) so that such attached properties 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.
The court, in an order dated February 21, 2025, allowed the restitution petition filed by ED thereby paving the way for restoration of attached assets to the victims.
The attached assets for which restitution has been allowed by the court include more than 2,300 parcels of agricultural land, residential/commercial plots and apartments as well as an Amusement Park in the name of 'Haailand' at Chinnakakani, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh. Out of the total 2,310 attached immovable properties, 2,254 are in Andhra Pradesh, 43 in Telangana, 11 in Karnataka and two in Odisha.
ED initiated the investigation against Agri Gold group of companies in 2018 on the basis of several First Information Reports (FIRs) registered in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha and Andaman and Nicobar. 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.
ED investigations revealed that Agri Gold Group ran fraudulent Collective Investment Scheme in the guise of 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.
By adhering to this business module, ED said, the accused lured lakhs of gullible persons and got deposits from them.
"These funds were thereafter diverted to various industries like Power/Energy, Dairy, Entertainment, Health (Ayurvedic), Farm Land Ventures etc., without the knowledge of the depositors and the companies defaulted in returning the deposits either in cash or in kind as agreed upon. Thousands of commission agents were engaged by the Agri Gold group to lure people and they managed to collect around Rs 6,380 Crore from more than 32 lakh investor accounts," said the ED.
During the course of PMLA investigation, movable and immovable properties spread across various states and worth around Rs 4,141.2 crore were attached by ED. The agency had also arrested Avva Venkata Rama Rao, Avva Venkata Seshu Narayana Rao and Avva Hema Sundara Vara Prasad in December 2020 and filed a Prosecution Complaint before the special PMLA court in Hyderabad against the 14 accused persons and entities in February 2021.
Cognizance of the offence of money laundering against all the accused was taken by the court on August 29, 2023. Subsequently, a Supplementary Prosecution Complaint was filed on March 28, 2024 against 22 accused and cognizance of the same has been taken by the court on November 4, 2024.