Visakhapatnam, August 5: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on Wednesday at locations associated with YSR Congress Party leader Malla Vijay Prasad in connection with a chit fund scam.
ED officials simultaneously searched five sites in Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. The raids targeted the former legislator’s home, office, and other premises linked to the ‘Welfare Group of Companies.’
These operations are part of a broader investigation by the central agency into alleged chit fund scams and money laundering activities spanning multiple states.
The agency is examining the allegations against Vijay Prasad and the ‘Welfare Group of Companies.’ Reports indicate that officials from Odisha and West Bengal are also involved in this search operation.
During the raids, police and CRPF personnel ensured tight security measures were in place. Vijay Prasad serves as the coordinator for the YSRCP in the Visakhapatnam West assembly constituency.
Previously, several cases had been filed against him in Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand. In 2021, Odisha police arrested him for his alleged involvement in a 2019 chit fund case while he was the chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Education and Welfare Development Corporation.
The Odisha police registered cases under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act of 1978, and the OPIID Act of 2011, concerning the alleged chit fund fraud.
He is accused of being involved in a ₹1,200 crore chit fund scam that reportedly defrauded thousands of depositors across Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and other states.
In 2016, the CBI also filed two cases against him related to chit fund scams, conducting searches at his office and residence.
Vijay Prasad was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly in 2009 on a Congress ticket. He joined the YSR Congress before the 2019 elections and contested from the same assembly constituency but lost.
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