Telangana: ED probes suspected money laundering in sheep distribution ‘scam’

Hyderabad: While the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is probing the sheep distribution scam, the Enforcement Directorate (Ed) has stepped in to probe the suspected money laundering angle under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. So far, the ACB has made ten arrests in the case, including top officials of the Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department. The regional joint director of the Enforcement Directorate in Hyderabad has written to the managing director of the Telangana State Sheep and Goat Development Cooperative Federation seeking all information related to the purchase of sheep by the beneficiaries. With the ACB probing allegations of a Rs 700 crore scam, people from neighbouring states have been found involved in the scam, which has led to the ED launching an investigation. The ED has also sought details of the district officials of the federation, including the accounts of the officials in which the money was deposited. Details of the agencies that transported the sheep, the fodder purchased, the beneficiaries who received it and the report with findings of the federation’s internal investigation on the allegations have also been sought immediately. BJP MP: ED sends notice to KCR
Meanwhile, Medak BJP MP M Raghunandan Rao has claimed that Enforcement Directorate officials have issued notice to former chief minister and BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) in connection with the scam and said tough times lie ahead for KCR, Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao and MLC P Venkatrama Reddy.
3-day ACB custody of accused ends
The three-day ACB custody of the federation’s former managing director Ramchander Naik and former OSD Kalyan to Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav ended on Thursday and they were sent to Chanchalguda jail. According to sources, they did not give satisfactory answers during the interrogation. According to the report, they were asked about the involvement of others in the scam. They were asked who was the mastermind behind the scam and how they showed the same type of sheep repeatedly in the records. The accused officials were asked why such huge irregularities were found in the audit report and how the money meant for sheep sellers went into the accounts of middlemen.