The Enforcement Directorate has attached movable and 376 immovable properties worth ₹268 crore in the Akshaya Gold Farms & Villas India Limited (AGFVIL) Ponzi scheme case.
The accused persons had collected deposits to the tune of ₹857 crore from about 19.17 lakh investors across 10 States. The company failed to return close to ₹384 crore to the customers.
According to the ED, the attached assets are in the company’s name and that of its sister concerns, directors, their relatives and proxies. The money laundering probe is based on the 29 cases lodged with the Andhra Pradesh police. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also instituted a case against the Akshaya Gold group.
The ED alleged that AGFVIL cheated the public by collecting deposits without the approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Agents were paid huge commissions to lure the people into making the investments on the promise of phenomenal returns or land parcels of equivalent value.
“...the money collected from the public was diverted and utilised for investment in the group companies of promoters and other companies owned by family members...,” said the agency. Funds were also used by the directors to buy properties in various names and also withdrawn by them as commission, as alleged.
The agency said that the company never had enough land for its schemes, but it kept on collecting deposits from new members. The investments received from the latest members were used to pay commissions to the agents, as alleged.
