The Enforcement Directorate pulled the plug on a massive fraud network supplying fake ghee to one of India's most revered temples. On September 17, ED officials in Hyderabad seized Kailash Chand Mangla, the promoter of Sukriti Foods, and charged him with money laundering. The agency alleges he manufactured 'Agmark Special Grade Cow Ghee' using refined palm oil, palmolein, and industrial chemicals like MG-90 and Acetic Acid Ester. This concoction was then sold to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) for use in the famous Tirupati Laddu prasadam.
The scale of the deception is staggering. Between 2019 and 2024, TTD purchased ₹230 crore worth of ghee, but ED claims Mangla’s factory produced ₹96 crore of that adulterated supply. He didn't just cook up the fake ghee; he built an elaborate paper trail to hide it. Mangla allegedly used front companies—Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities, Malganga Milk & Agro Products, and A.R. Dairy Foods—to coordinate shipments and maintain false sale records. The goal? To make it look like genuine cow ghee changed hands, when in reality, chemicals were being mixed in his factory premises.
This arrest is part of a wider crackdown. The ED previously detained Vipin Jain, a director at Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk, on similar charges. Both men allegedly facilitated the procurement of adulterants and washed the proceeds through these shell entities. The investigation reveals a systematic effort to conceal the actual utilization of palm-based oils and chemicals, replacing them with fabricated documents that showed legitimate production.
Mangla was produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Visakhapatnam, which sent him to judicial custody. The probe now intensifies as the ED traces the remaining financial flows of the ₹230 crore scheme. Authorities are expected to name more conspirators and examine the supply chain links between the manufacturers and the temple authorities in the coming weeks.