Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached land parcels in Kokapet and Khajaguda in Hyderabad, along with luxury vehicles and watches, linked to former Andhra Pradesh minister Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao, his son Karumuri Sunil Kumar and others in a money-laundering probe into the liquor transportation contracts of the Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Limited (APSBCL).
The assets, valued at Rs 37.7 crore, were attached by the agency’s Hyderabad zonal office under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) through an order issued on August 6, The Times of Indiareported. The ED has described the properties as direct proceeds of crime and value-equivalent assets.
Besides the two land parcels, the attachment covers granite quarry lease rights over four hectares in Anakapalle district, a commercial unit at Elan Paradise in Gurugram, a flat at Vasundhara Enclave in Delhi and bank balances and fixed deposits.
The movable assets include a Volvo, a Toyota Fortuner and luxury watches bought from Ethos Limited and Kamal Watch Company.
Background of case
The money-laundering case flows from a first information report (FIR) registered by the Andhra Pradesh CID on February 10 following a vigilance report, and concerns the centralisation of liquor transportation contracts by the APSBCL.
According to the ED, then APSBCL managing director Dontireddy Vasudeva Reddy, allegedly in connivance with political leaders and private individuals, scrapped the district-wise transport arrangement in favour of a statewide contract without prior government approval. Tender conditions were manipulated to favour pre-selected entities, the agency claimed.
Transportation rates, which stood at around Rs 19.6 per carton under the earlier system, allegedly rose to between Rs 32 and Rs 35, even as the work was sub-contracted to local transporters for about Rs 19 to Rs 22. The agency pegged the proceeds of crime at Rs 195.32 crore.
The ED alleged that Kessireddy Raja Shekhar Reddy, alias Raj Reddy, a former IT adviser to the Andhra Pradesh government, controlled front entities and was a key beneficiary. It further alleged that Nageswara Rao secured transport sub-contracts and sought an 85 per cent share of the profits, while Sunil Kumar handled operations through Sree Sudarsana Constructions.
Bogus invoices, shell entities
Investigators have alleged that the funds were layered through bogus invoices, shell entities, cash security deposits and land deals that fell through, including advances of Rs 1.7 crore for the Kokapet land, Rs 1 crore for the Khajaguda land and Rs 52 lakh for the quarry rights.
Backdated profit-sharing agreements were drawn up in September 2025, after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiry had begun, to make the receipts appear to be legitimate business income, the agency alleged.
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