ED attaches property, assets worth Rs 80.65 cr of MP Nama

Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached 28 immovable properties and other assets worth Rs 80.65 crore belonging to Khammam MP Nama Nageshwar Rao and his family members in an ongoing money laundering case against Ranchi Expressway Ltd, Madhucon Projects Limited and its director and promoters under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2022.

Nageshwar Rao is the promoter and director of Madhucon group of companies and a personal guarantor to the bank loan defaulted by the company. ED has also attached the registered office of Madhucon group of companies and residential property at Jubilee Hills here, an ED press release said.

"ED has identified and attached immovable assets of Rs 67.08 crore at Hyderabad, Khammam and at Prakasham District and movable assets of Rs 13.57 crore including shareholding of Nama Nageshwar Rao and his family members in Madhucon Projects Ltd, Madhucon Granites Limited and in other Madhucon group of companies, totalling to Rs.80.65 crore," the release said, adding that in July 2022, ED had provisionally attached 105 immovable properties and other assets worth of Rs.73.74 crore belonging to Madhucon Group of companies and its directors and promoters, which included the properties of Madhucon Projects Limited and group companies, Nageshwar Rao and other promoters and directors of the company after conducting multiple searches and recording multiple statements of promoters, sub-contractors, bankers, engineers, forensic auditors etc.

ED said its investigation has revealed that the 'Madhucon Group promoters siphoned off the loan funds of this project by taking the entire EPC Contract from its SPV, and then taking huge mobilization and material advances, but instead of using those advances for the work, used it in their other projects'.

"Also, direct cash of amount Rs 75.50 crore was generated by paying money and then receiving back the amount through six Shell Entities (M/s. Usha Projects, M/s Shree BR Visions, M/s. Sri Dharma Sastha Constructions, M/s. Sree Nagendra Constructions, M/s. Ragini Infrastructure and, M/s. Varalakshmi Constructions) which were completely under the control of their chairman Nageshwara Rao and Nama Seethaiah," the ED said.

ED has also identified direct diversion of Rs.361.29 Crore from the bank loan obtained by Ranchi Expressways Limited. Further investigation is going on.