Ramky suffers major blow in Jagan's assets case

Court upholds attachment of its properties worth Rs.143.74 cr.by ED

The court confirmed that land and investment by Ramky which were attached by ED in January were in order.

The Ramky group suffered a serious setback on Thursday when a court upheld the attachment of its properties to the tune of Rs.143.74 crore in the disproportionate assets case against Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.

The court is the Adjudicating Authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in New Delhi which decides whether the attachment of properties by the Enforcement Directorate is valid or not. The court confirmed that land and investment by Ramky which were attached by ED in January were in order.

The ED had provisionally attached the assets based on the charge-sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a court here which was trying Jagan. The Ramky group, headed by A. Ayodhya Rami Reddy, was accused of investing Rs.10 crore in Jagan-owned Jagati Publications in the form of buying shares at 35 times premium.

Jagan prevailed upon his father, late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, to reduce the green belt area of Ramky Pharmacity at Parawada in Visakhapatnam in violation of layout norms from 250 to 50 metres, the charge-sheet said.

The reduction in the belt helped Ramky to plot 199 acres in the non-Special Economic Zone (non-SEZ) area and sell them for Rs.68.22 crore. Another four plots of over 140 acres in the SEZ area were leased out for Rs.65.52 crore. Thereby, the group benefited and the government suffered a corresponding loss of Rs.133.74 crore.

The CBI had charged the then vice-chairman of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) G. Venkat Rami Reddy with approving the layout plan of Ramky by circumventing the guidelines laid down in the VUDA master plan.

The investigation disclosed that 38 plots were sold at Rs.60 lakh to Rs.1 crore per acre in non-SEZ area. Another 23 plots were left unsold over 205 acres. The inspection by VUDA officials showed that the buffer zone at some locations inside the Pharmacity was only 15 metres against the 50 metres permitted. Ramky group bought 55,555 shares of Jagati Publications for Rs.360 a share in return for the benefit. The ED attached both the investment by Ramky and the plotted area that was sold.