Explainer: Why Kannada actor Ranya Rao is in gold smuggling
Kannada actor Ranya Rao got caught up in a gold smuggling scandal after losing over ₹2 crore to a Ugandan agent named Ben, who promised but never delivered five kilograms of gold.
Rao and her associate, Tarun Konduru Raju, tried sourcing gold through Dubai after their initial deal fell through, which pulled them deeper into illegal activities.
How did the case unfold?
Between March 2024 and March 2025, Rao made 15 trips carrying gold into India.
She was finally caught at Bengaluru airport with over 14kg of gold hidden on her.
Authorities later found cash and jewelry worth several crores at her home.
The Enforcement Directorate has charged Rao, Raju, and another associate for laundering approximately ₹102.55 crore (about 127.287kg) worth of smuggled gold using hawala routes.
The CBI also filed an FIR as part of ongoing investigations, and Ranya Rao was slapped with a ₹102 crore penalty by the DRI; no equivalent DRI penalty against Tarun Konduru (Raju) is reported.
Ranya Rao remains lodged in a Bengaluru prison.