ED attaches Rs 1.09 crore assets of former VUDA official in disproportionate assets case

The Enforcement Directorate’s Visakhapatnam sub-zonal office has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs. 1.09 crore in connection with a disproportionate assets case involving a former senior official of the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA).

The action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, against Pasuparthy Pradeep Kumar, former Additional Chief Urban Planner of VUDA. The attached assets include residential flats, plots and bank balances held in the names of Mr. Pradeep Kumar, his wife, his uncle and an alleged benami, Kona Simhadri.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ED said the probe was launched following an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Vijayawada. The ACB had later filed a chargesheet against Mr. Pradeep Kumar under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

According to the charge sheet, Mr. Pradeep Kumar joined government service in 1984 and was posted to VUDA as Additional Chief Urban Planner in January 2018. During the check period between July 2005 and January 2018, he allegedly misused his official position to amass assets far beyond his known sources of income. These assets were allegedly acquired in his own name as well as in the names of family members and benamis.

The ACB had estimated the value of the disproportionate assets at around Rs. 1.85 crore. However, the ED’s investigation found that the alleged illicit income was routed through multiple bank accounts and used to purchase properties, which were shown as legitimate assets. The agency assessed the total proceeds of crime at Rs. 2.94 crore, higher than the ACB’s estimate.

Based on this, assets worth Rs. 1.09 crore, representing the differential amount, were provisionally attached. Further investigation is underway, the ED said.