A special court of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Vijayawada on Friday extended the remand of nine accused in the liquor scam case, including Anil Chokhara, a known economic offender, till December 19.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the case produced Anil Chokhar, accused No. 49, before the ACB special court. She accused him of running about 35 shell companies and resorting to various economic crimes.
The SIT arrested Anil Chokhar, a native of Bijay Nagar in Rajasthan, in Navi Mumbai in November and brought him to AP.
The accused had cases registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW). He was previously arrested on charges of defrauding the bank and participating in fraud, forgery and other crimes and was out on bail, investigators said.
”The Modus Operandi (MO) of the accused is to identify persons in financial distress and offer them assistance and in return collect their bank and other personal details. They then open bank accounts using their names, phone numbers, PAN number and other details. He uses these accounts for various economic crimes, including money laundering,” investigators said.
The accused also used multiple SIM cards and bank accounts to evade the investigating authorities. “During investigation, it was found that Anil Chokhara played a key role in the AP liquor scam through his shell companies and resorted to huge fraud,” they claimed.
The accused colluded with A1 Raj Kessireddy, A7 Muppidi Avinash Reddy and others and diverted the money received from AP State Beverages Corporation Limited (APSBCL) to some officers and other bigwigs in the liquor syndicate, they alleged.
Police Commissioner SV Rajashekar Babu, who is monitoring the SIT issue, told The Hindu that Anil Chokhara had transferred about ₹77 crore from Leela Distilleries Private Limited, Adan Distilleries and SPY Agro Industries Limited to Nysna Multi Ventures, Olwick and Kripati Enterprises and Vishal Enterprises, which he had provided to him.
Meanwhile, during his four-day police custody earlier, SIT officials grilled Anil Chokara on his association with the main accused in the case. He was also questioned about the alleged shell companies and the channeling of money to some of the accused in the liquor syndicate.
Published – 05 Dec 2025 20:53 IST
