Mining tycoon arrested in Rs9.54b probe
Crime Branch accuses Reddy of shielding father and son from investigation
Karnataka’s mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy has been arrested for allegedly shielding the suspect in a billion-rupee Ponzi scheme, police said yesterday.
“Based on the evidence and statements, Reddy has been arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar told reporters.
Reddy, 51, was expected to appear before a magistrate for a police or judicial custody hearing later in the day.
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) charged Reddy with shielding a father and son, accused in the Rs9.54 billion (Dh482 million) Ponzi scheme, from being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged money laundering in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
His arrest comes a day after Reddy drove to the CCB office on Saturday evening in response to its summons in the Ponzi case.
Reddy was quizzed on Saturday by CCB officials led by Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) S. Girish and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Venkatesh Prasanna.
The CCB also arrested Reddy’s aide Ali Khan, who allegedly struck a Rs180 million deal with the accused, Syed Ahmad Fareed and his son Syed Afaq Ahmad of Ambidant Marketing Ltd, a city-based company that ran the Ponzi scheme and duped around 15,000 investors by laundering their money from the Gulf.
I have no role in the Ponzi scheme. The police have no evidence to prove my involvement in it. They [police] are misleading the media and the public.”
‘No role’
G.J. Reddy | Mining magnate accused of graft (left)
Reddy, a former BJP Minister in the state (2008-11), however, denied involvement in the case.
“I have no role in the Ponzi scheme. The police have no evidence to prove my involvement in it. They [police] are misleading the media and the public,” said Reddy in a video clip released to local news channels before his interrogation on Saturday.