Hyderabad: Tollywood superstar Mahesh Babu has written to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), saying he cannot attend an inquiry due to his busy shooting schedule. He asked the ED to give him a new date for the hearing in a case linked to a brand endorsement.
Mahesh Babu was supposed to appear before ED officials on Sunday as per an earlier notice. However, he sent a letter explaining why he could not attend the meeting.
The case involves payments the actor received from Surana Group and Sai Surya Developers, two real estate companies based in Hyderabad. He had endorsed their projects as a brand ambassador and was reportedly paid more than Rs 11 crore for his involvement.
Reports state that Mahesh Babu received Rs 5.5 crore from Surana Group and Rs 5.9 crore from Sai Surya Developers. Of the payment from Sai Surya Developers, he allegedly got Rs 2.5 crore in cash and Rs 3.4 crore through cheque, which has now become a key part of the ED’s investigation.
The ED had issued the notice to Mahesh Babu shortly after it raided the offices of the two realty firms in Hyderabad. During these searches, the ED claimed to have found unaccounted cash transactions worth Rs 100 crore and seized Rs 74.50 lakh in cash.
Officials said that the investigation was launched following multiple FIRs filed by the Telangana Police. These cases accuse Sai Surya Developers, Bhagyanagar Properties Ltd of Surana Group, and others of cheating customers by taking advance payments for plots and failing to deliver them.
The ED stated that these companies are being probed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for fraud and cheating innocent buyers.
