Hyderabad, Jul 30 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted searches at multiple locations in Hyderabad as part of a money laundering investigation into a sheep rearing and distribution "scam" worth crores of rupees that allegedly took place during the previous BRS regime, official sources said.

At least eight locations in the city related to the beneficiaries and alleged middlemen involved in the scam apart from that of G Kalyan, OSD to former BRS minister Talasani Srinivasa Yadav, are being searched under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

The probe stems from some state police FIRs.

Sources said the ED has found that though the proceeds of crime stated in the FIRs was only Rs 2.1 crore, a CAG report has pegged the loss to the state government into crores of rupees.

The CAG audit report for period ended March-2021 found several "irregularities" in the implementation of the flagship Sheep Rearing Development Scheme (SRDS) like non-maintenance of beneficiary wise details, improper record of invoices pertaining to transportation invoices and payments, payments against invoices containing fake/ passenger vehicles/ non-transport vehicle registration numbers., duplicate tags allotted to sheep units etc., the sources said.

Allegations related to to sheep units allotted to dead/non-existent persons are also being probed by the ED.

The CAG audit report is limited to only seven districts (out of the 33 in Telangana) wherein estimated loss to the state government is pegged at Rs 253.93 crore, the ED found.

However, on a proportionate basis for all the 33 districts in Telangana, the loss is likely to exceed Rs 1,000 crore, the sources said. PTI NES DV DV

Money laundering probe under PMLA into sheep distribution scheme uncovers alleged irregularities and widespread beneficiary record falsification. An investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act targets alleged laundering in a sheep rearing and distribution scheme after Enforcement Directorate searches at multiple locations linked to beneficiaries, middlemen and an associated official. The inquiry focuses on tracing proceeds and examining whether implementation irregularities-identified in a CAG audit as incomplete beneficiary records, suspect transportation invoices, duplicate tags and allocations to dead or non existent persons-indicate diversion or concealment of public funds and support predicate offences for money laundering analysis.