KT Rama Rao Summoned by ED in E-Money Laundering Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned former Telangana minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) to appear before the agency on January 7 in connection with a money laundering case related to alleged financial irregularities related to the Formula E race held in Hyderabad in February 2023, official sources said. The move comes days after the ED filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against KTR and others in the case.

The ED filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) after the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered an FIR against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader KTR and others in the Formula-E funding case. Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma recently approved the registration of a case against KTR in the case. KTR has been named as the main accused in the FIR, while senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar and retired bureaucrat B.L.N. Reddy have been named as the second and third accused respectively.

On December 20, the Telangana High Court directed Anti-Corruption Bureau officials not to arrest KTR till December 30 in the case. On December 19, the Telangana ACB registered a case against BRS working president and MLA Rama Rao for alleged payments for holding Formula-E races in Hyderabad during the previous regime, some of which were unapproved in foreign currency. The case was registered under applicable sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as well as provisions of the IPC related to criminal breach of trust and conspiracy.