AP CID: A1 Ramoji Rao, A2 Sailaja Kiran!

Media baron Ramoji Rao, chairman of the Eenadu media group, has been booked by the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in connection with the alleged irregularities in Margadarsi Chit Funds Private Limited (MCFPL).

The CID has registered seven FIRs against Ramoji Rao, his daughter-in-law Sailaja Kiran, and others on charges of cheating, breach of trust, and fraud.

Ramoji Rao has been named A1, MCFPL MD Sailaja Kiran as A2, concerned branch managers as A3, the MCFPL company itself as A4, and its principal auditor K Sravan as A5 in the FIRs.

The CID’s investigation revealed alleged illegal activities such as money laundering, siphoning of funds, corporate fraud, and evasion of income tax by Margadarsi.

The agency compared these violations to high-profile cases like the Satyam Computers scam and the Saradha chit fund scandal. The CID has urged central enforcement agencies to take action against the company.

The Margadarsi group is accused of diverting subscribers’ funds to Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) controlled entities and engaging in high-risk stock market speculation.

They are also alleged to have manipulated their balance sheet, not furnished required financial statements, and defamed the CID during the investigation. The CID has attached movable properties worth over Rs 1035.53 crore belonging to MCFPL. The annual turnover of MCFPL in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for the year 2021-22 was disclosed to be Rs 9,677 crore.

The CID has also accused the Margadarsi group of fudging its books and accounts by ‘window dressing’ the balance sheet (thereby altering their financial data to appeal to investors) and by not submitting required information as per the Chit Funds Act either at the branch level or with the Registrar of Chits at the state level. The CID alleged that instead of cooperating in the investigation, the accused were indulging in “defaming and blaming” the CID through various means.