Kannada actor Ranya Rao’s gold smuggling operation spanned from Africa to Dubai to India and started with a loss of Rs 2 crore, before she and her accomplices earned over Rs 100 crore over the course of a year.
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday filed a chargesheet in Bengaluru in the money laundering case which also named Tarun Konduru, the actor’s alleged associate, and Bellari-based gold dealer Sahil Sakariya Jain. The operation came to light when Rao was arrested at the Bengaluru airport after arriving from Dubai. Officials recovered 14.2 kg of gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore from her possession.
Details of the case reveal that found that Rao and Konduru’s operation was an organised international network that started from their attempts to source gold from Africa. The idea came to them when they were told that a majority of gold in Dubai’s market originates from African mines. This led them to establish Dubai-based Veera Diamonds Trading LLC, and begin their search for a source across Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
They agreed upon an initial trial shipment of 5 kilograms of gold with an agent named Ben in Uganda. Should this shipment be delivered successfully, they would forge a contract for 50 kilograms. Rao and Konduru paid Ben an advance of $25,000 (or Rs 23.5 lakh) and then two advance payments of Rs 9.4 lakh each to cover taxes and fees. But the gold shipment never arrived.
Konduru travelled to Ugandan capital Kampala in January 2024, where he was shown gold at a refinery and asked for another Rs 1.7 crore to secure the release. The duo then realised that the transaction was a scam, resulting in a loss of over Rs 2 crore.
Rao and Konduru then started buying gold from African dealers in Dubai’s Deira Gold Souk, where transactions were done strictly in cash. Rao would carry large sums of cash to the market to procure the gold. Konduru would file fraudulent customs declarations claiming that the gold was being shipped from Dubai to a third country, such as Switzerland or Thailand.
Instead, Rao would take the gold at Dubai airport, conceal it on her person and smuggle it into India. Between March 2024 and March 2025, Rao traveled from Dubai to India approximately 15 times and carried 127.87 kilograms of gold worth approximately Rs 102 crore. This gold was sold to various jewellers and handlers in India.
She avoid scrutiny at the Bengaluru airport as she was the stepdaughter of a senior police officer and would easily bypass custom checks owing to the VIP protocol.
The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets belonging to Rao worth over Rs 34 crore. The probe agency is conducting an in-depth investigation into this entire network.