The Hyderabad Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate on Friday announced that it has attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 12.65 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The properties belong to Sahiti Infratec Ventures India Pvt. Ltd. (SIVIPL), its former director Sandu Purnachandra Rao, his family members, and associated entities.
The ED initiated its PMLA investigation based on multiple FIRs registered by Telangana Police against SIVIPL, its promoters, directors, and others. The complaints, filed by investors under Section 420 (Cheating) of the IPC, alleged a fraud of approximately Rs 842.15 crore after the company failed to deliver promised flats and villas.
The ED’s investigation revealed that SIVIPL collected funds from investors and homebuyers without obtaining the necessary permissions from RERA or HMDA. Furthermore, the company did not maintain a mandatory ESCROW account for the project, instead depositing investor funds into various bank accounts.
A key finding was that Rs 216.91 crore was collected from investors in cash and deliberately kept off SIVIPL’s official books. The investigation also uncovered that B. Lakshminarayana, the Managing Director of SIVIPL, and Sandu Purnachandra Rao, the Director & Head of Sales and Marketing, diverted a portion of the homebuyers’ funds to their personal and family bank accounts. These embezzled funds were used to acquire immovable properties in their own names, as well as in the names of family members and benamis.
Specifically, S. Purnachandra Rao was found to have misappropriated ₹126 crore collected from SIVIPL’s customers. This amount, which included ₹50 crore in cash collected between 2018 and August 2020, was funneled through his personal bank accounts and those of his relatives and associated entities.
Further investigation revealed that after resigning from SIVIPL, Rao acquired immovable properties worth crores of rupees by laundering these “Proceeds of Crime.”
The ED had previously attached properties worth ₹161.50 crore belonging to SIVIPL, B. Lakshminarayan, S. Purnachandra Rao, and others. Both Lakshminarayan and Rao were arrested by the ED in 2024, and a Prosecution Complaint (PC) was filed in the same year.
Further investigation into the matter is ongoing.