The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties valued at ₹34.12 crore of Ranya Rao in the gold smuggling case.
In a statement issued on Friday, the ED said the attachments have been made as “property equivalent in value to the untraced proceeds of crime identified during the course of investigation” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Ranya Rao was allegedly caught red-handed by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths while trying to smuggle 14.12 kg of 24-carat foreign-origin gold valued at ₹12.56 crore at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on March 3. Following this, the Central Bureau of Investigation, ED, Income Tax and Customs have joined the probe. Raids by ED and CBI on Ranya Rao’s residence had allegedly led to seizure of ₹2.67 crore in unaccounted cash and gold jewellery worth ₹2.06 crore.
Though Ranya Rao denied knowledge of the seized gold and other assets, her claims were demonstrably contradicted by seized physical evidence, including customs documents bearing her name, travel and purchase records, and digital conversations, the ED said.
“Despite the seizure of 14.2 kg of smuggled gold and associated assets by the DRI, the total proceeds of crime identified during ED’s investigation have been quantified at ₹55.62 crore. This includes approximately ₹38.32 crore identified through analysis of the evidence gathered during the course of investigation by ED through foreign invoices, customs declarations, and hawala-linked remittances. The same has been corroborated through searches conducted by ED,” the statement further said, indicating she had smuggled gold on multiple trips from Dubai to Bengaluru and not the March 3 trip alone.
“As a substantial portion of the proceeds of crime had been layered and reinvested into immovable assets to project them as untainted, ED has provisionally attached four properties of Ranya Rao of equivalent value,” the ED said.
The attached properties include a residential house in Victoria Layout, a residential plot in Arkavathi Layout, Bengaluru, agricultural land in Anekal and industrial land in Tumakuru district.
“The attachment has been carried out to prevent concealment or alienation of the tainted assets and to secure the proceeds of crime. Further investigation is under progress to trace the remaining proceeds of crime and identify other individuals and entities involved in the syndicate,” the ED said in its statement on Friday.
Modus operandi
The ED said that the agency’s investigation revealed that Ranya Rao, in active collusion with Tarun Konduru Raju and others, orchestrated a well-structured operation for smuggling gold into India.
“Gold was procured from suppliers based in Dubai, Uganda, and other countries, and payments were made through hawala channels in cash, thereby circumventing legal financial systems. False customs declarations were filed in Dubai fraudulently declaring the destination of gold shipments as Switzerland or the United States of America (USA), while the actual travel of the gold smugglers was to India. Dual sets of travel documents were used — one for the declared export destination and the other for their actual arrival in India, to evade scrutiny and facilitate smuggling through Indian airports,” the ED said.
Further investigation has revealed that the smuggled gold was then sold within India in cash to jewellers and other local entities, and the proceeds were subsequently laundered through further hawala remittances abroad to finance repeat consignments for smuggling more gold into India, the ED said.
“Evidence retrieved from the seized mobile phones and forensic extraction of digital devices, have revealed detailed coordination with foreign gold suppliers, hawala operators, and Dubai-based customs agents,” the ED said. Ranya’s involvement was further corroborated by her digital footprint, which includes invoices, export declarations, foreign remittance records, and recorded chats, the ED added.
Published – July 05, 2025 09:07 am IST
