Hyderabad, Amaravati: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has carried out a major multi-state action, conducting searches at around 20 locations across five states in connection with the alleged Andhra Pradesh liquor scam. Officials said the operation focused on laundering conduits — jewellers, bottling units, packaging firms and shell LLPs — suspected of moving illicit kickbacks through layers of transactions.
Teams from ED’s zonal offices raided premises in Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and parts of Andhra Pradesh, seizing documents, digital records and bank ledgers. Among those searched were entities like Shree Jewellers Eximp, N R Udhyog LLP, Venkateshwara Packaging and Suvarna Durga Bottles. Investigators believe these firms provided the cover for laundering proceeds of the alleged scam.
The raids, described by officials as aimed at money-laundering intermediaries (jewellers, packaging/bottling units, and shell/benami firms), follow a months-long criminal investigation by the state Special Investigation Team (SIT). The SIT’s criminal filings — which ED has used as predicate material to register an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) — allege that 16 liquor firms paid roughly ₹1,677 crore in kickbacks to secure supply contracts worth about ₹10,835 crore during 2019–2024.
From SIT findings to ED probe
The SIT filed its first 305-page chargesheet in July 2025, documenting how ₹50–60 crore per month was collected as bribes. It also cited seizures like ₹11 crore in cash from a Shamshabad farmhouse. Supplementary chargesheets filed in August added new names and companies, mapping out an elaborate laundering network. Based on these predicate offences, the ED registered its Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in May 2025.
ED’s focus now
While the SIT has named several intermediaries and arrested individuals including Raj Kasireddy and MP P.V. Midhun Reddy, ED’s current emphasis is on the financial conduits. By unravelling the invoice trails and benami accounts, ED hopes to freeze or attach properties and accounts linked to the proceeds of crime. Officials say the probe is now tracking a money trail estimated between ₹3,200 and ₹3,500 crore.
What lies ahead?
The raids mark the beginning of the second phase of ED’s probe — forensic analysis of seized material, summons to directors of implicated firms, and provisional attachment of assets. With SIT’s criminal case moving in parallel, the ED investigation is expected to add the money-laundering dimension, turning the liquor scandal into one of the most high-profile financial crime probes in recent years.
