ED summons actor Mahesh Babu in alleged money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned actor Mahesh Babu to appear before an investigating officer at its Hyderabad office on April 28. This follows raids on Surana Group and Sai Surya Developers, companies linked to money laundering charges, where Mahesh Babu appeared in promotional films.

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The actor is under ED scanner for promoting controversial real estate projects run by these companies. Sources in the ED say that Mahesh Babu was paid Rs 5.9 crore for endorsing Sai Surya Developers: Rs 3.4 crore through official banking channels and Rs 2.5 crore allegedly in cash. Investigators suspect the cash may be part of the proceeds of crime linked to real estate fraud.

ED raids in Hyderabad

The ED’s Hyderabad Zonal Office, on April 16, searched four locations in Hyderabad and Secunderabad under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The raids led to the seizure of incriminating documents and unaccounted cash transactions worth around Rs 100 crore, including Rs 74.5 lakh in cash from the premises of the Surana Group.

The investigation under the PMLA pertains to alleged non-delivery of real estate projects on time. The owner of Sai Surya Developers, Kancharla Satish Chandra Gupta, is facing a police probe for alleged delivery default of a project named Green Meadows.

Cheating case filed

As per news agency PTI, a 32-year-old software engineer had filed a cheating case with the local police against Gupta and his company, a prominent real estate firm based in Vengal Rao Nagar, Hyderabad.

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According to the complaint (registered at the Madhura Nagar police station) Nakka Vishnu Vardhan, along with several others collectively invested an amount of more than Rs 3 crore in Sai Surya Developers' Green Meadows venture, a 14-acres land in Shadnagar, in April 2021.

The ED investigation found that the accused had orchestrated fraudulent schemes involving unauthorised land layouts, selling the same plots to multiple buyers, accepting payments without proper agreements, and making false promises about plot registrations.