Enforcement Directorate authorities on Tuesday conducted raids on the residences and offices of former MP and Telugu Desam Party leader Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and his associates in Transstroy (India) Private Limited, in connection with alleged siphoning of bank loans in a big way.
As many as 15 teams of the ED began searches since early morning on different locations in Jubilee Hills, Manikonda, Punjagutta and other places in Hyderabad, besides in Guntur and other places.
According to reports, the ED has been suspecting the alleged default of loans to the extent of Rs 9,394 crore, taken from various banks by Transstroy.
Apart from that of Rayapati, the ED conducted searches on Malineni Sambasiva Rao, a director with Transstroy India Private Limited. Apparently, the ED suspects siphoning of money from Transstroy into various companies in which Sambasiva Rao is the director.
Transstroy, which had bagged the contract for the multi-crore Polavaram Irrigation Project in Andhra Pradesh, dumped it in midway, after allegedly siphoning of funds through bogus companies using the names of servant maids, sweepers, and drivers as directors.
In 2020, the Enforcement Directorate registered the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on the FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
It had alleged that Rayapati had diverted Rs 16 crore from his company Transstroy to Singapore, Malaysia to Russia.
Earlier, the former MP has been charged under Section 120 (b), 420, 406, 468, 477 (a), Section 13 (2) of Prevention of Corruption Act, following the complaint of Union Bank of India.
In the complaint, the bank said Rayapati had defaulted clearance of loans to the banks. The CBI sleuths raided on his house and his offices in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guntur and Delhi.
Transstroy has defaulted a loan of a whopping Rs 8,832 crore. And the CBI suspected that he had diverted Rs 3822 crores to other countries.