Puri Jagannadh and Charmme Kaur were called by Officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday regarding Liger’s investment. According to reports, Puri and Charmme were grilled for 15 to 16 hours on illegal investments of Liger via Foreign Exchange. The investigation on Liger’s team began when a politician Congress leader Bakka Judson lodged a complaint with the ED in August stating that many politicians had invested money in Liger. He also pointed out that many invested in the film to routing money and turn their black money into white.
The ED had served notices to Jagannadh and Charmme about 15 days ago asking them to appear before Thursday. Reportedly, the ED officials questioned both on the source of money. The officials also suspected that many political leaders and companies transferred money to their bank accounts for the making of Liger.
Puri Jagannadh and Charmme Kaur questioned by ED
For unversed, this is the second time Puri Jagannadh and Charmme Kaur are being questioned by ED. Previously, in 2021 the duo were questioned regarding allegations of the Tollywood Drug Case and money laundering. Tollywood actors Ravi Teja, Tarun, Navdeep, Subba Raju, cameraman Shyam K Naidu, director Chinna, actress Mumaith Khan and others were also interrogated in connection to this case of drug case.
Liger’s failure
Liger, which starred Vijay Deverakonda, Ananya Panday, Ramya Krishnan and Mike Tyson in lead roles, was released in theatres on August 25, 2022, in five languages and ended up as a disaster at the box office. Filmmaker has been facing some issues post the box office failure of Liger.
Puri Jagannadh’s controversy with Liger’s distributors
The distributors of Liger asked Puri to compensate their losses and also allegedly threatened to protest outside his for not returning their money. In fact, the director also reportedly sought police protection because of numerous threats. However, he asserted that the distributors have no business threatening him in any manner.
The maker also stated that all his dues have already been paid to the distributor Warangal Sreenu as per the agreement, and it is Sreenu, who has defaulted payments to the sub-distributors. The filmmaker showed concern that now he and his family, including his 85-year-old mother-in-law, his wife, and his daughter will be harassed.
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