ED probe unravels sheep scam-illegal betting app link
Enforcement Directorate
has found fresh evidence linking the massive financial fraud to an illegal online betting application.
During recent searches, ED officials seized documents and material suggesting that govt funds meant for poor farmers were laundered through over 200 suspected mule or dummy accounts tied to the betting network.
The seizure, made from one of the premises that was searched by the ED, included blank chequebooks, passbooks, debit cards, 31 used mobile phones, and more than 20 SIM cards, all suspected to have been used in facilitating these illegal activities.
The ED carried out searches on July 30 at eight locations in Hyderabad under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The probe focuses on large-scale misappropriation of public funds allocated under the SRDS. Investigators estimate the total scam could be of as high as Rs 1,000 crore.
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According to the ED, substantial payments were made to multiple individuals and entities claiming to supply sheep to beneficiaries.
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However, most of these recipients were never involved in the sheep business before the scheme began and, in fact, never delivered any sheep at all. Funds were fraudulently diverted to bogus vendors, with no real transactions taking place.
Searches were conducted at the residence of G Kalyan Kumar, OSD to former animal husbandry minister Talasani Srinivasa Yadav, as well as several middlemen and alleged beneficiaries.
An FIR by the Anti Corruption Bureau accused Kalyan of breaking into the department's office and taking away official records after the change of govt.
Another FIR, lodged by a sheep merchant, alleged that Rs 2.1 crore owed for supplied sheep units was siphoned off by departmental assistant directors and diverted to unrelated accounts.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit report for the year ending March 2021 flagged grave irregularities, including lack of beneficiary-wise records, fake transportation invoices, duplicate tags issued for sheep units, disbursements to dead or non-existent individuals and use of non-transport vehicles for alleged transportation.
The audit, which covered seven of Telangana's 33 districts, pegged the loss at Rs 253 crore. Scaled to all districts, the total loss could surpass ₹1,000 crore, sources said.
The ED investigation not only corroborates the CAG's findings but also uncovered evidence of 'recycled' sheep units—where the same livestock was shown as delivered multiple times to fraudulently claim govt payments.
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