Enforcement Directorate’s aggressive raids shook Sahara Group’s foundations, hitting premises in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka over Prime City land irregularities. Conducted February 2 by Kolkata Zonal Office, the searches in Anantapur, Ballari, Bhubaneswar, and Berhampur yielded damning digital and paper trails.
Seized items included WhatsApp exchanges, phone records, contacts, account details, and incriminating files. PMLA-empowered interrogations captured vital testimonies.
Berhampur’s 32-acre fraudulent sale—part of 43 acres—stole the spotlight. Defying Supreme Court directives and a withdrawn resolution, it was rushed in December 2023 to an employee at undervalued rates, per senior management’s nod.
Tied to HICCSL FIRs for fraud and conspiracy, Sahara confronts 500+ cases, 300 PMLA-tagged for Ponzi tactics: fund misuse, no-show maturities, book cooking, liability shuffling. Four societies drown in debt as collections continued amid diversions to benami deals, loans, luxuries—leaving depositors high and dry with interest-swollen arrears.
Five provisional attachments secure assets; arrests of Anil Velaparmpil, Abraham, OP Srivastava persist alongside chargesheets. This multi-state blitz signals ED’s unyielding campaign against Sahara’s investor plunder.