ED arrests Deccan Chronicle promoter T Venkattram Reddy in Rs 357 Cr loan default case

Hyderabad Enforcement Directorate arrested Deccan Chronicle Holdings Private Limited promoter Venkattram Reddy in Hyderabad on Wednesday morning.

The arrest follows ED’s investigation into money laundering by the company.

The case dates back to 2013 when a consortium of banks complained to the Central Bureau of Investigation about the nonpayment of a loan. Later CBI booked a case.

This is the second time he has been arrested.

Earlier he was arrested by CBI in alleged fraud against a consortium of banks and money laundering.

CBI had arrested Venkattram Reddy and the former owner of IPL Team Deccan Chargers for failing to repay loans.

In October 2020, ED had provisionally attached immovable assets worth Rs 122.15 crore belonging to Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, and its former promoters in connection with a money laundering case.

Venkattram Reddy and his brother T Vinayakravi Reddy are accused, is associated with an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 8,180 crore committed by the group.

According to ED, the attached assets include 14 properties located in New Delhi, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Chennai, Bangalore etc. The ED said none of the assets are covered under the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) process.

Earlier arrest:

In February 2015, Venkattram Reddy, Chairman of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, was arrested by the CBI in connection with the alleged default of ₹ 357 crore loan from Canara Bank.

An earlier promoter of Indian Premier League team Deccan Chargers, faced a number of cases both civil and criminal with regard to funds the company raised to meet its investment requirements, including for the IPL team, a retail business run under Odyssey, and an aviation venture.

He and his brother Vinayak Ravi Reddy were then arrested from the office premises of Deccan Chronicle newspaper located in Secunderabad.

However, two months after, they were granted bail by a magistrate court. The case was related to Canara Bank loan cheating. The siblings had allegedly produced false and fabricated documents to secure a loan. They were asked to furnish sureties for Rs 5 lakh each.

The total loan fraud committed by DCHL and its promoters is estimated to be Rs 8,180 crores, while the original defaulted amount was around Rs 1,500. Investigation conducted under the PMLA revealed that they hatched a well-planned conspiracy and manipulated the balance sheets of the company inflating the profits, advertisement revenue and grossly under-stated the financial liabilities of the company to paint a rosy picture for years to cheat the banks and its shareholders. Balance sheets of the company were fudged and loans taken from one bank were hidden from other financial institutions.