ED Attaches Immovable Property worth Rs.110 Crore of M/s. Maithri Plantation & Horticulture Pvt Ltd

Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 210 immovable properties worth approximately Rs.110 Crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA), 2002 in the M/s. Maithri Plantation & Horticulture Pvt Ltd. (M/s. MPHPL) Ponzi scam case. The attached properties are in the name of M/s. MPHPL, its sister concerns M/s. Sree Nakshatra Builders & Developers India Pvt Ltd (M/s. SNBDIPL), M/s. Maithri Realtors India Pvt. Ltd (M/s. MRIPL) and the Directors namely, Lakku Konda Reddy, Lakku Malayadri Reddy, Lakku Madhava Reddy and Kolikalapudi Brahma Reddy of these companies.

On the basis of a FIR dated March 24, 2013, filed by the Andhra Pradesh Police under Sections 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Sections 4 and 5 r/w Section 2(c) of the Prize Chits Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act 1978 and Section 5 of the APPDFE Act 1999 against Lakku Konda Reddy and others for allegedly cheating and defrauding the general public, the ED launched a money laundering Andhra Pradesh police have filed a total of 12 FIRs.

M/s MPHPL perpetrated an illegal Ponzi scheme and solicited deposits from the general public without permission or any form of license to run a Collective Investment Scheme or an NBFC, according to the ED investigation. It took deposits from thousands of unsuspecting depositors who were enticed to join by a network of well-organized agents who were promised extremely high commissions on the money invested. Investors were enticed by bogus promises of extremely large returns or the delivery of a plot in a fantasy project when they reached maturity. The money collected from the public by M/s MPHPL was illegally diverted to other group companies, namely M/s SNBDIPL and M/s MRIPL, for their real estate business, and several properties were acquired in the names of M/s MPHPL, M/s SNBDIPL, M/s MRIPL, and the directors of these companies in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and Karnataka. The accused amassed a total of Rs.288.42 crore from a large number of unsuspecting investors. M/s MPHPL has failed to return/repay roughly Rs.158.14 Crore to investors out of the money collected to date.

196 landed properties in AP, 13 landed properties in Telangana, and 1 landed property in Karnataka have been provisionally attached by the ED. The properties, which are valued at INR 110 crore, include open fields, plots, and flats.

Further investigation is being carried out.