New Delhi, May 26 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Wednesday that it has attached properties worth Rs 1.67 crore of Seemakurthy Narasimha Rao, Managing Partner of Sri Sai Krishna Rice Industry, in connection with its probe into a money laundering case.

An ED official said that the agency has attached immovable properties worth Rs 1.67 crore of Rao under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a cheating case.

The official said that the financial probe agency had registered a case under PMLA based on the FIR and charge-sheet filed by the Telangana Police against Rao for cheating the Andhra Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (APSCSCL), now Telangana State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (TSCSCL), to the tune of Rs 1.95 crore by not supplying the required quantity of rice/paddy to FCI/APSCSCL.

He said that during probe, it was found that Rao had fraudulently diverted the sale proceeds of boiled rice or paddy by selling it in the open market, generating proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 1.95 crore in cash.

"Subsequently, Rao used a part of the said amount -- Rs 90 lakh -- to square off the loan taken from the State Bank of Hyderabad, Aswaraopeta (now SBI) and siphoned off the remaining proceeds of crime for the benefit of himself and his family members," the official said.

He said the investigation under PMLA identified the proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 1.67 crore in the form of three immovable properties of Rao, and the ED has attached the same.