Even as the CBI is vigorously pursuing the illegal mining case involving the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) owned by Gali Janardhan Reddy and his brothers, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is all set to register a case to probe the money laundering angle in the huge wealth amassed by the Reddys.

Sources said that ED officials, who are working in tandem with the CBI, are understood to have stumbled upon certain vital leads indicating that there is a money laundering angle to the whole affair surrounding the OMC. The ED is in the process of gathering the asset details of the Reddys. It is learnt that the ED officials based in Hyderabad had sent a preliminary report to their bosses in Delhi and the same had been forwarded to the top brass in the Ministry of Finance.

The CBI believes, say sources, that the Reddys, may have laundered money by using benami companies, bogus loans, creditors, investors and foreign capital, especially by inflating the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts of individuals and companies in his group. During an Income Tax raid in Karnataka in August 2010, the officials stumbled upon documents that showed that the Reddys had reportedly invested thousands of crores of rupees in some companies in Indonesia and Singapore. "The IT department has also shared information with the CBI on certain bogus companies floated by the Reddys in Bahamas and Mauritius among other countries," sources said.

It is not yet been confirmed whether the ED officials at Hyderabad have received go ahead nod from their Delhi top brass or not, it is for sure that the ED is all set to register the case very shortly. Unlike in the case of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy where ED though registered a case, did not attach properties of Jagan, it is going to attach the properties of Reddy brothers immediately after registering the case, said the sources.