Agri Gold Scam: ED Restitutes Rs3,339 Crore Attached Properties to Victims
Moneylife Digital Team 25 February 2025
In a significant move towards justice for victims of the Agri Gold Ponzi scheme, the Hyderabad zonal office of the directorate of enforcement (ED) has successfully restituted attached properties worth around Rs3,339 crore to the victims. The present market value of these properties is estimated to exceed Rs6,000 crore.
 
ED had filed a restitution application in December 2024 under Section 8(8) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The plea sought the release of movable and immovable properties attached by the agency to the crime investigation department (CID) in Andhra Pradesh under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments (APPDFE) Act, 1999. On 21 February 2025, the Special Court (PMLA) of the metropolitan sessions judge in Hyderabad accepted the application, allowing the return of assets to the victims.
 
The restituted assets include over 2,300 parcels of agricultural land, residential and commercial plots, apartments and an amusement park named ‘Haailand’ in Chinnakakani, Guntur district (Andhra Pradesh). Of the 2,310 attached immovable properties, 2,254 are in Andhra Pradesh, 43 in Telangana, 11 in Karnataka and two in Odisha.
 
The agency initiated an investigation into the Agri Gold group of companies in 2018 following multiple first information reports (FIRs) registered across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The fraudulent scheme involved collecting deposits from around 1.9mn (million) customers and 3.2mn account-holders under the pretext of real estate investments, promising high returns or residential plots.
 
Investigations revealed that the Agri Gold Group operated a fraudulent collective investment scheme (CIS) under the guise of a real estate business. More than 130 companies were established to collect deposits as ‘advances for plots’, despite insufficient land holdings. The collected funds were misused and diverted into sectors like power, energy, dairy, entertainment, healthcare (Ayurvedic) and farmland ventures without informing the investors. The companies defaulted on their commitments, failing to return the deposits in cash or kind. Through an extensive network of commission agents, Agri Gold amassed around Rs6,380 crore from over 3.2mn investor accounts.
 
During its probe under PMLA, ED attached movable and immovable assets worth around Rs4,141.2 crore across multiple states. In December 2020, key figures in the scam, Avva Venkata Rama Rao, Avva Venkata Seshu Narayana Rao and Avva Hema Sundara Vara Prasad, were arrested. 
 
Subsequently, ED filed a prosecution complaint before the special PMLA court at Nampally in Hyderabad in February 2021 against 14 accused individuals and entities. The court took cognisance of the money laundering offences on 29 August 2023. A supplementary prosecution complaint was later filed on 28 March 2024 against 22 additional accused which was taken into cognisance on 4 November 2024.
 
The verdict is expected to provide much-needed relief to thousands of victims who lost their hard-earned money to the Agri Gold Ponzi scheme, reinforcing the government’s commitment to tackling financial fraud and protecting investor interests.
 
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