Former Minister and mining baron Janardhan Reddy reached the Central Crime Branch (CCB) office in here on Monday in connection with an alleged bribery case.
Reddy is suspected to have received 57 kg of gold worth Rs 18 crore to help an accused in a case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Along with Reddy, his secretary Ali, jeweler Ramesh Kothari and one other have been named as accomplices in the alleged fraud case.
Karnataka commissioner of police, T Suneel Kumar while addressing a press conference here said, "A company Ambidant, set up in 2016-17 assured investors a return of 30-40 percent per month in form of profits. Thousands of people were lured to invest. Initially, they returned the first batch profits as promised following which more people poured in. Subsequently, when it failed to return the principal amount, cases were registered. In January 2017, the ED raided the company. The crime branch took over the case and a probe was conducted which revealed that transactions to the tune of Rs. 18 crore were carried out."
Later, it was discovered that the company had allegedly transferred the money to Ramesh Kothari who runs a bullion business in the name of Ambika Jewellers. On quizzing Kothari, he informed that he had used the money to buy the gold, which was handed over to Reddy's personal assistant Ali.
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