The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday attached assets worth about Rs 32 crore in a cooperative society fraud case in Karnataka.
The agency attached 31 immovable assets and balances in 32 bank accounts amounting to Rs 31.35 crore of Anand Balakrishna Appugol, Chairman of Krantiveer Sangolli Rayanna Co-operative Society and his associates under Prevention of Money Laundering Act in a cooperative society fraud case.
The attached immovable properties are in the form of agricultural land, commercial complexes, a residential house held in the name of Anand Appugol, Prema Appugol, Shivmurthy Chivgol, Sanjay Patil and Mahantesh Angadi, all residents of Belgaum and related entities, the agency said in a statement.
The ED investigation under PMLA against Appugol and 15 others for embezzling more than Rs 232.69 crore collected from more than 1,300 members through fixed deposits by promising them high rate of interest ranging from 12 to 16 percent per annum, revealed that the accused persons did not return the money to the public in time and channeled thefunds into immovable properties.