ED Probe Finds Ranya Rao's Active Role In Global Smuggling Syndicate

(MENAFN- IANS) Bengaluru, July 4 (IANS) The investigation by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) into the sensational gold smuggling case has revealed that Kannada actress played an active role in global smuggling syndicate.

The probe further revealed that the role of public servants in assisting her at the Bengaluru International Airport airport has also come out in open and their roles are under scrutiny.

The ED has issued a detailed press statement in this regard on Friday.

The ED stated: "Ranya Rao's involvement in generating, possessing, and circulating proceeds of crime was further corroborated by her digital footprint, which includes invoices, export declarations, foreign remittance records, and recorded chats establishing her active role in the smuggling syndicate."

It has also emerged during investigation that Ranya Rao was assisted at the airport upon her arrival in India, and the possible involvement of public servants in facilitating her illicit activities is under scrutiny, the ED stated.

The ED investigation has revealed that Ranya Rao, in active collusion with another accused Tarun Konduru Raju and others, orchestrated a well-structured operation for smuggling gold into India.

Gold was procured from suppliers based in Dubai, Uganda, and other jurisdictions, and payments were made through hawala channels in cash, thereby circumventing legal financial systems, the ED said.

False customs declarations were filed in Dubai (Dubai Customs deceleration attached for reference), fraudulently declaring the destination of gold shipments as Switzerland or the US, while the actual travel of the gold smugglers was to India, ED stated.

Dual sets of travel documents were used i.e. one for the declared export destination and the other for their actual arrival in India, to evade scrutiny and facilitate smuggling through Indian airports, ED said.

Further, ED investigation has revealed that the smuggled gold was then sold within India in cash to jewellers and other local entities, and the proceeds were subsequently laundered through further hawala remittances abroad to finance repeat consignments for smuggling more gold into India.

Evidence retrieved from the seized mobile phones and forensic extraction of digital devices, have revealed detailed coordination with foreign gold suppliers, hawala operators, and Dubai-based customs agents.

Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Headquarter Office, New Delhi has provisionally attached immovable properties valued at Rs 34.12 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in a case involving transnational gold smuggling and laundering of its proceeds by Harshavardini Ranya alias Ranya Rao and her associates.

The attached assets include immovable properties located in Bengaluru and Tumkur districts of Karnataka. The attachments have been made in terms of Section 5(1) of PMLA as property equivalent in value to the untraced proceeds of crime identified during the course of investigation.

ED initiated its investigation on the basis of FIR dated March 7 registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), under Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,

2023 (corresponding to Section 120B IPC) and Sections 7 and12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, following a complaint by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

The FIR pertained to the interception of two foreign nationals-an Omani and a UAE citizen-at Mumbai International Airport with 21.28 kg of smuggled foreign-origin gold, valued at Rs 18.92 crore. Earlier, on March 3, the DRI had intercepted Ranya Rao at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, with 14.213 kg of concealed 24-carat foreign-origin gold, valued at Rs 12.56 crore, the ED stated.

A search of her residence resulted in the recovery of Rs 2.67 Crore in unaccounted Indian currency and gold jewellery worth Rs 2.06 crore, the statement said.

In her statement under Section 50 of the PMLA, Ranya Rao denied knowledge of the seized gold and other assets; however, her claims were demonstrably contradicted by seized physical evidence, including customs documents bearing her name, travel and purchase records, and digital conversations, the ED said.

"Despite the seizure of 14.2 kg of smuggled gold and associated assets by DRI, the total proceeds of crime identified during ED's investigation have been quantified at Rs 55.62 crore. This includes approximately Rs 38.32 crore identified through analysis of the evidence gathered during the course of investigation by ED through foreign invoices, customs declarations, and hawala-linked remittances. The same has been corroborated through searches conducted by ED under Section 17 of PMLA," the ED stated.

As a substantial portion of the proceeds of crime had been layered and reinvested into immovable assets to project them as untainted, ED has provisionally attached four properties of equivalent value belonging to Ranya Rao, the statement by the ED said.

These include a residential house in Victoria Layout, Bengaluru; a residential plot in Arkavathi Layout, Bengaluru; industrial land in Tumkur District; and agricultural land in Anekal Taluk, with a combined fair market value of Rs 34.12 crore, the ED said.

The attachment has been carried out to prevent concealment or alienation of the tainted assets and to secure the proceeds of crime in accordance with Section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA. Further investigation is under progress to trace the remaining proceeds of crime and identify other individuals and entities involved in the syndicate, the ED said.

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