Hyderabad: ED issues summons to Nama Nageswar Rao

Hyderabad: Officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have issued summons to TRS MP Nama Nageswar Rao and three directors of Madhucon Group of companies in a money laundering case and asked them to appear on June 25 for investigation.

The summons were issued following the raids carried out on June 11 by the agency on Rao's offices and residences. The raids were in connection with Rs 1,064-crore bank fraud case. The raids were conducted simultaneously at six locations on the MP's residences and offices in Hyderabad and Khammam.

According to reports, ED officials found huge unaccounted cash during the raids. It was seized along with crucial files and documents. The CBI had booked a case in 2019 and filed charge-sheet in 2020 against Ranchi Expressway Ltd and its directors. Nama Prithvi Teja, MP's son, is a director.

The firms belonging to Rao had obtained Rs 1,064-crore loans from banks, but allegedly diverted them for other purposes. The loans were obtained to lay a four-lane road of 163-km between Ranchi and Jamshedpur.

The NHAI had awarded the contract to Ranchi Expressway Ltd, owned by MP's Madhucon Project Ltd. But his firms failed to take up the work and even defaulted on repayment of loans. The banks then declared the loans as NPA and filed cases against the firms. Rao was the personal guarantor for the loans.