ED summons Mahesh Babu for questioning in money laundering probe
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Telugu actor Mahesh Babu in connection with a money laundering probe into Hyderabad-based real estate firms.
According to official sources, the 49-year-old actor has been asked to appear before the federal probe agency’s office in Hyderabad on April 28.
A week ago, the agency had carried out raids at multiple locations in Hyderabad as part of its investigation against real estate firms Surana Group and Sai Surya Developers.
“Both groups are under ED scanner for alleged financial irregularities,” sources said.
The investigation emanated from several cheating and breach of trust complaints against Sai Surya Developers, which has reportedly triggered a wider money-laundering probe.
Sai Surya Developers, a prominent real estate player headquartered in Vengal Rao Nagar, has faced criminal cases due to project delivery delays. Its proprietor, Sri Kancharla Satish Chandra Guptha, was earlier booked for fraud in the Green Meadows venture — a real estate project spread across 14 acres in Shadnagar. Actor Mahesh Babu was the brand ambassador for the venture.
A complaint filed at the Madhura Nagar police station by 32-year-old software engineer Nakka Vishnu Vardhan alleged that he, along with several other individuals, invested more than Rs 3.21 crore in the Green Meadows project in April 2021.
Despite multiple follow-ups, investors did not receive the promised land development or registration, the complaint alleged.
The Hyderabad-based Surana Group is a diversified conglomerate with interests in telecommunications, copper rods, copper pipes, copper sheets, copper foils and power cables. It is also involved in wind and solar power, infrastructure, entertainment and tourism.
India