By Kavita Mistry 
In an interesting development, Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials served notices to Mahesh Babu in connection with a money laundering investigation involving real estate firms. Buzz is that the central agency reportedly asked the superstar to appear for an inquiry on April 28. The actor has been the brand ambassador for two reality brands Sai Surya developers and The Surana Group.
According to reports, ED wants to investigate the modalities of the payment made to the actor. The ED notice to Mahesh Babu came less than a week after it conducted searches at the premises of the realty firms in Hyderabad. Under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the central agency conducted searches at four premises in Hyderabad, around April 17. Apparently, unaccounted cash transactions worth in crores of rupees were found, and later, the agency had reportedly seized lakhs of rupees in cash during searches at the real estate firms.
Mahesh Babu’s endorsing the real estate firms believed to have played a significant role in gaining public trust. The buyers who bought the land were apparently not aware of the alleged fraudulent practices. It may be noted that the actor is not being investigated as an accused and is only being called for investigation. At this point of time there’s no evidence of his involvement over the alleged scam. ED is investigating the payments he received from the firms after officials claim to have collected evidence for questionable transactions. Perhaps, Mahesh may have endorsed the realty projects of the accused companies without knowing about the alleged fraud, one of the officials reportedly stated. Mahesh Babu is yet to respond to the legal notices – perhaps his team is working on the subject. The actor is presently shooting for SSMB29 in Hyderabad. Directed by Rajamouli, the film also stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Prithvbiraj Sukumaran.
See Also: Mahesh Babu & Priyanka Chopra To Shoot For A Breathtaking Action Sequence For SS Rajamouli’s SSMB29
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