ED summons 'Prince of Tollywood' Mahesh Babu in alleged real estate scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a summons to the ‘Prince of Tollywood' Mahesh Babu to appear on April 28 regarding a suspected money laundering case. Mahesh Babu has been served a notice linked to the Sai Surya Developers and Surana Group case. Reports suggest that Mahesh Babu was paid Rs 5.9 crore for promoting Sai Surya’s allegedly fraudulent projects. These two Hyderabad-based real estate companies are under scrutiny for defrauding buyers.

The Enforcement Directorate claims that Mahesh Babu received Rs 5.9 crore—Rs 2.5 crore in cash and Rs 3.4 crore in the form of cheque from Sai Surya Ventures for promotions. This deal has raised several questions, prompting doubts about suspected money laundering.

Many people were reportedly lured by Mahesh Babu’s endorsement and invested heavily in the projects without realising the venture was allegedly fraudulent. Though Mahesh Babu may not have been involved in this scam, the ED is examining the transactions made by the developers towards him.

The accused orchestrated "fraudulent" schemes involving unauthorised land layouts, selling the same plots to different customers, accepting payments without proper agreements, and false assurances of plot registrations, the agency said in a statement issued post the searches.

Mahesh Babu, who is busy filming a global jungle adventure film with director SS Rajamouli, is expected to cooperate with the investigation, and further details may emerge following his appearance before the ED.

Meanwhile, ED had launched its money-laundering probe based on FIRs by Telangana police against Narendra Surana, director of Bhagyanagar Properties Ltd and K Sathish Chandra Gupta, proprietor of Sai Surya Developers and others.