Andhra liquor scam: Investigators recover ₹11 crore cash from cardboard boxes in Sulochana Guest House at Kacharam

Hyderabad: More startling revelations have emerged in the Andhra Pradesh liquor scam.

During searches at the residences and offices of the accused, Special Investigation Team (SIT) officials seized Rs 11 crore. The officials discovered and confiscated ₹11 crore in cash, stored in 12 cardboard boxes disguised as office files.

This breakthrough came following the confession of Varun Purushottam (Accused number 40 in the case), who revealed the illegal cash dump at the Sulochana Farm Guest House in Kacharam, Shamshabad mandal, Telangana.

Investigations revealed that Varun, along with another person, Vinay, had concealed the boxes of cash in June 2024 under the directives of A1 Kasireddy Rajasekhar Reddy – Former I.T. Advisor and another person Chanakya. Following his confession, the massive cash stash tied to the liquor scam was uncovered.

The SIT has so far identified financial irregularities exceeding ₹3,500 crore in the scam. Additionally, officials are believed to have gathered crucial information implicating several key figures from the previous YSRCP government. Sources suggest that the role of high-profile individuals may soon be exposed, backed by substantial evidence.

Core conspirator arrested :

It may be recalled that a few weeks ago, YSRCP MP PV Midhun Reddy was arrested. Mithun Reddy is a core conspirator from inception to execution, orchestrating policy changes and coordinating with co-accused to secure kickbacks from distilleries/suppliers.

It all began in 2019 :

The AP liquor scam conspiracy began in 2019 when Satya Prasad was approached at Mithun Reddy’s residence in Tirupati and promised a conferred IAS promotion if he cooperated. A key meeting was held on 13 October 2019 at Vijayasai Reddy’s residence in Hyderabad. After analyzing the data, the members of the meeting deduced that they could earn around.

It was planned to get Rs 50-60 crores per month in the form of commissions /kickbacks from various distilleries and suppliers. The members of the meeting conspired to form a syndicate, and Vasudeva Reddy proposed that Satya Prasad would handle the supplies at depots and sales at the Government Retail Outlets (GRO) to bypass the automatic order for supply (OFS). Further, the syndicate also agreed to only favour those liquor brands and companies, for sale of liquor in Andhra Pradesh, that would pay commissions and kickbacks as demanded by them, and consequently, they intended to gain undue pecuniary advantage.

Known liquor brands were sidelined; instead, less popular brands promoted by the syndicate (like Supreme, Ocean Blue, 9 Star, etc.) were pushed into the market.

Kickbacks were paid using complex methods: funds were routed through gold merchants, shell companies, and real estate firms. Fake GST invoices for items like gold and garments were used as covers for cash generation.

Transactions were routed through hawala networks based in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi. Some of these shell companies invested large sums in foreign countries like the UAE, the USA, and African nations without any legal or financial trail.

According to the SIT, funds were collected by the main accused, Kasireddy Rajasekhar Reddy, and routed to Mithun Reddy, Vijayasai Reddy, and eventually to then CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.