The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Hyderabad Zonal Office, has arrested Sandu Purnachandra Rao, former director of M/s Sahiti Infratec Ventures India Pvt. Ltd. (SIVIPL) and head of its Sales and Marketing team, in connection with a large-scale real estate fraud. He was taken into custody on August 25 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, and produced before the Special Court (PMLA) in Nampally the following day. The court remanded him to 15 days’ judicial custody.
The investigation stems from an FIR filed by Telangana Police against SIVIPL, its managing director B. Lakshminarayan, and others for advertising a “pre-launch offer” of a luxury gated community project, collecting vast sums from prospective buyers, but failing either to deliver the promised flats or refund the money. Several further FIRs were registered after more than 700 buyers complained of being defrauded of nearly ₹360 crore in different projects.
