ED attaches Jagan's assets valued at Rs 749 crore

Hyderabad:  The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy's assets worth over Rs 749 crore, including his house in Hyderabad, in connection with its money laundering probe against him. These assets owned by various group companies of the Andhra Pradesh opposition leader include movable properties worth Rs 344.38 crore and immovable ones worth Rs 404.72 crore. The palatial Lotus Pond residence of Jaganmohan is situated in posh Jubliee Hills here. Commerce@Mantri, a prime commercial property in Bengaluru, has also been attached by the ED under a provisional order. The attached properties include those of Classic Realty Private Ltd., Utopia Infrastructure, Nivish Infrastructure, Inspire Hotels, Revan Infra, Bhagavath Sannidhi, Shalom Infrastructure, Marvel Infrastructure, Silicon Builders, Sandur Power Company and other group companies in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The ED's zonal office in Hyderabad said in a statement that it had registered a criminal case against Jagan and other under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on a chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 'quid pro quo' case. The chargesheet said that Jagan, in criminal conspiracy with others, got allotted a mining lease to Bharathi Cement Corporation Private Limited illegally and received bribes from various persons/companies in the guise of investments in his group companies as 'quid pro quo' for undue favours granted to them by Andhra Pradesh government when Jagan's father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was the chief minister. The ED said its investigations revealed that Jagan laundered the proceeds of crime through his group companies Sandur Power, Classic Realty, Silicon Builders, Saraswati Power and Industries and 10 other companies in the form of investments, purchase of movable and immovable properties and third party payments etc. It was one of 11 chargesheets filed by CBI against Jagan, senior government officials of Andhra Pradesh and businessmen in the 'quid pro quo' investment case. The ED had already attached assets worth over Rs 1,000 crore in the overall PMLA cases it is probing against Jagan and others. The allegations against Jagan relate to the period 2004-2009. Jagan, who was arrested in May 2012, spent 16 months in jail before he was released on bail in 2013.