842 cr swindled by Sahiti Infra & promoters, says ED

Hyderabad: Sahiti Infratec Ventures India Private Ltd (SIVIPL) and its sister entities have allegedly misappropriated homebuyers' money which led to a wrongful gain of Rs 842 crore by SIVIPL and its promoters, alleged the Enforcement Directorate.In its prosecution complaint filed in the PMLA court recently, ED alleged that the total Rs 853 crore collected, Rs 214 crore involved cash transactions with funds diverted through multiple accounts. ED traced the money trail and stumbled upon how funds received directly from homebuyers or indirectly as loans were diverted through a complex web of transactions. These funds ended up in the bank accounts of promoter Boodati Lakshminarayana and his family members, ED alleged.ED's complaint implicates Lakshminarayana and others for criminal conspiracy, breach of trust and cheating under IPC sections along with provisions of PMLA. A total of 56 FIRs have been registered across various police stations.ED accused Lakshminarayana of orchestrating the layering of the homebuyers' funds by rotating money through various bank accounts of SIVIPL and its sister entities, namely Sahiti Constructions, a partnership firm with his wife B Parvathi as a partner. Alleging deliberate financial manipulation, criminal conspiracy and misappropriation of funds to defraud investors, ED said Rs 216 crore was not recorded in the books of accounts of SIVIPL.Diversion of fundsIt said a substantial amount was withdrawn in cash and used for personal expenses, asset acquisition and new projects. Prominent beneficiaries of these transactions included Lakshminarayana and family members. Additionally, Rs 12.48 crore was transferred to SBL Dream Homes Pvt Ltd, out of which Rs 8.43 crore was siphoned off. These funds were collected from homebuyers as advances for flats but were misused for purposes unrelated to the construction projects, ED alleged. Overseas transactions ED also discovered that proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 4.55 crore were transferred to overseas accounts of family members and entities. For instance, Rs 38.8 lakh was sent to an account belonging to B Sathwik and Rs 34.9 lakh was transferred to an account held by Lakshminarayana's son-in-law Pramod Korlagunta. Additional amounts were sent to overseas entities, including ‘Shoora Funds II Manager LLC FBO' and ‘Granite Escrow and Settlement,' totalling Rs 3.63 crore and Rs 18.4 lakh, respectively.ED has identified properties purchased using proceeds of crime, including land in Ameenpur village, which was acquired for a project called ‘Sarvani Elite' but saw no construction in three years since its launch. The properties of Sahiti Group entities, including SIVIPL, Omics International Ltd, Royalnirman Infra Projects Private Ltd,and Mahogany Farmland Projects Private Ltd, have been provisionally attached under section 5 of PMLA.Efforts to reach SIVIPL representatives did not yield any result.
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