New Delhi, Oct 1 (UNI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s Nagpur zone recently conducted searches at eight locations linked to Ramana Rao Bolla, Mrs Nutan Rakesh Singh, and their associates in Nagpur and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra, and in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.
The operations were part of a money laundering investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The searches resulted in the seizure of voluminous incriminating documents, property papers, and digital devices.
Authorities also confiscated cash amounting to Rs 10 lakh, froze movable assets including bank balances and insurance policies, and identified immovable properties worth over Rs. 100 crore.
The ED initiated its investigation based on First Information Reports (FIRs) filed by Maharashtra Police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The accused, including Ramana Rao Bolla and Nutan Rakesh Singh, are alleged to have defrauded the then Corporation Bank (now union Bank) and multiple farmers, with the total fraud amounting to Rs. 152.90 crore.
The ED’s investigation revealed that Ramana Rao Bolla and his associates fraudulently obtained Aadhaar cards and other documents from several farmers.
They falsely promised to help them open bank accounts necessary to receive compensation for crop failure under a government scheme.
In a criminal conspiracy with Sandeep Revnath Jangale, the then Assistant Manager of the Umarkhed Branch of Corporation Bank, and other accused, they opened bank accounts in the names of 158 farmers.
Loan amounts ranging from Rs. 49 lakh to Rs. 50 lakh were sanctioned for each account, with Ramana Rao acting as the guarantor for all of them.
The accused then siphoned off the loan proceeds for personal gain, causing the accounts to become non-performing assets (NPAs) and resulting in a total loss of Rs. 113 crore to the bank.
Similarly, another syndicate led by Mrs. Nutan Rakesh Singh employed an identical method. In conspiracy with the same bank official, they secured loans totalling Rs. 25.07 crore in the names of 54 farmers, with Mrs. Singh acting as the guarantor.
These loan amounts were also misappropriated, causing the accounts to turn into NPAs and inflicting a total loss of Rs. 39.43 crore (principal amount of Rs. 23.03 crore plus interest of Rs. 16.40 crore) on the bank.
The ED investigation has further revealed that the proceeds of the crime were used by Ramana Rao Bolla and Mrs. Nutan Rakesh Singh to acquire properties in their own names, as well as in the names of their family members and entities they control.
Part of the loan money was also used to repay previous loans taken in the name of their other businesses.
Further investigation into the matter is ongoing.
