Assets of scam-tainted Agri Gold will be auctioned

Scam-tainted Agri Gold assets are to be auctioned under the e-auction system and the money will be returned to the depositors and investors. A two-member committee comprising of A Kutumba Rao and K Narasimha Murthy took this decision after discussed it with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Vijayawada on Tuesday.

The committee in the first phase has decided to pay in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 20, 000 while the rest will be returned after Agri Gold’s properties are sold in a phased manner. With Rs 7,000 crore in assets and Rs 6,500 crore in debts, the committee will pay the amount within three months of the e-auction.

The committee members addressed the media and said that the government would not tolerate such financial offences. They also briefed the media that the 19 lakh of 39 lakh depositors from Agri Gold were in AP and that all the depositors had been identified. Stating that the government would pay the money once the permission is obtained from the legal authorities, Mr Kutumba Rao said that the plots would be allotted to 5,322 customers who had paid the full installments.

Mr Rao added further that due to lack of business skills and the money being invested in realty sector, Agri Gold failed to repay the investors. He also said that another 30 money circulation companies have been identified by the government in the defaulters list and soon action will initiated on those companies.