Janardhana Reddy appears before police for questioning

Former Minister denies having had any links with Ambidant

November 11, 2018 12:05 am | Updated 12:07 am IST - Bengaluru

Former Minister G. Janardhana Reddy arriving at the CCB office in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Former Minister G. Janardhana Reddy arriving at the CCB office in Bengaluru on Saturday.

The three-day manhunt for G. Janardhana Reddy ended on Saturday, after the mining baron and former Minister, with a team of lawyers in tow, walked into the Central Crime Branch (CCB) headquarters here on Saturday evening to appear before investigating officers.

He was interrogated for more than seven hours from around 4 p.m. in connection with a ₹20-crore money-laundering case, while his lawyers waited outside the chamber.

Mr. Reddy denied allegations of taking money or gold to bribe Enforcement Directorate officials and brushed them off as a “political conspiracy”. He addressed the throng of media personnel claiming that he had not been absconding, and that he was complying with a notice served by the CCB to appear before the police for questioning.

Syed Ahmed Fareed, the owner of Bengaluru-based investment firm Ambidant Marketing, who is being investigated for defrauding investors in an over ₹600-crore Ponzi scam, has alleged that Mr. Reddy took ₹20 crore, of which ₹2 crore was paid in cash and ₹18 crore in 57 kg of gold. The gold was allegedly laundered through two jewellery firms and delivered to Mr. Reddy’s aide Mehfuz Ali Khan.

Face to face with Fareed

When Mr. Reddy denied these allegations and claimed that he did not know anyone by name of Syed Ahmed Fareed, the CCB sleuths summoned the owner of Ambidant, who is out on bail, and questioned the two men together.

Before making his submissions, the former Minister insisted he had no links with Ambidant, which has been accused of cheating 15,000 investors by promising them high rates of interest. Investigators claim that some of the money was diverted to Mr. Reddy. At the time of going to press, Mr. Reddy was still being questioned .

Mr. Reddy, who claimed he was not absconding, appeared before the police a day after his plea for anticipatory bail by a local court was adjourned for hearing till Monday. Mr. Khan was also questioned by the CCB’s investigating team at another location.

Reddy releases video proclaiming innocence

There was high drama at the CCB headquarters when a convoy of cars es corting Mr. Reddy entered the premises at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Prior to submitting himself for interrogation Mr. Reddy released a vid eo with him and his lawyer addressing the charges from an undisclosed location. Proclaiming his innocence he said, “I can guarantee you that they won’t find anything to prosecute me.”

The police had sent out teams to Hyderabad, and various locations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in search of him. However, Mr. Reddy claimed he was in Bengaluru all these days. “Baseless accusations are being made against me and because of these rumours I am recording a video message to put all the facts before you. Reports of me hiding in Hyderabad or some other place are false. I have been in Bengaluru all this while. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry after looking at media reports,” he said.

Investors gather at CCB office

As news spread that the police were questioning Mr. Fareed, investors who allegedly lost their money to his firm Ambidant Marketing in a Ponzi scam gathered outside the CCB headquarters on Saturday. One of them was Zaiullah, a 40-year-old tailor from Goripalya. “I had invested ₹3 lakh in the firm, and pledged my house at Ramanagaram five months ago with Ambidant. The company promised me ₹9,000 monthly interest but so far I have not got a single paisa from them,” he said.

In tears, Mr. Zaiullah, who has lost his house, told CCB officials that he wanted to file a complaint. The officials instructed him to register a complaint with the local jurisdictional police.

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