The Enforcement Directorate’s Hyderabad Zonal Office carried out searches at 15 locations across different states related to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) ghee adulteration fraud case. The searches included places in Ahilyanagar, Bikaner, Dehradun, Delhi, Dindigul, Guntur, Mumbai, and Roorkee.
According to an ED statement, the searches encompassed both residential and office premises of individuals like Pomil Jain, Vipin Jain, Raju Rajasekaran, Rajesh Mansukhlal Chavda, Apurva Vinaykanth Chavda, Machindra Shantaram Lanke, Ajay Kumar Sugandh, Mahesh Kumar Rohira, and Ashish Agarwal. During these operations, cash totaling Rs 60 lakh was confiscated.
The searches also revealed information about investments of Proceeds of Crime (PoC) in properties exceeding Rs 45 crore, along with details of various immovable properties registered under the accused and their relatives. Additionally, the dairy plants of A.R. Dairy Food Pvt. Ltd., Dindigul; Malganga Milk & Agro Products Pvt. Ltd., Ahilyanagar; and Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk Pvt. Ltd., Roorkee were scrutinized.
Incriminating documents were seized during the searches, indicating the utilization of a sophisticated network of legal entities to facilitate fraudulent transactions for concealing and layering Proceeds of Crime. The Enforcement Directorate initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, based on an FIR against A.R. Dairy Food Pvt. Ltd. and others.
Allegations suggest that the accused, in collusion with certain TTD officials, engaged in criminal breach of trust and cheating, causing financial harm to TTD through the supply of adulterated ghee. The investigation has uncovered that the illicit funds generated from supplying adulterated ghee to TTD were funneled into immovable properties through a complex network of interconnected legal entities and businesses to mask the illegal source of funds. The ED mentioned that the investigation is ongoing.
