VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh State Crime Investigation Department (APCID), which is probing the alleged multi-crore Andhra Pradesh Skill development scam, submitted a chargesheet to the ACB special court in Vijayawada on Thursday.
Based on a complaint from the present chairman of Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC), K Ajay Reddy, CID officials registered an FIR in December 2021. The CID has now informed the court that former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu played a key role in the `370-crore skill development scam.
The investigation agency also mentioned the roles of former minister Kinjarapu Atchannaidu, former MD and CEO of APSSDC Ghanta Subba Rao, former director of APSSDC Dr K Lakshminarayana and representatives of Siemens, DesignTech, PVSP Skillar and other shell companies.
According to sources, CID officials submitted to the court that Naidu was involved in a conspiracy along with the former minister and floated the skill development corporation bypassing the council of ministers and deviating from existing rules.
They further issued orders approving the establishment of Siemens skill development centres at a hyper-inflated rate of Rs 3,300 crore, the chargesheet added.
Moreover, Naidu and Atchannaidu are said to have created a facade of a GO for the State government to release 10 per cent of the cost. “Based on a presentation, they approved an MoU of the skill development department that violated regulations in an attempt to divert funds.
All the accused siphoned off a large portion of the Rs 371 crore released in the form of grant-in-aid to DesignTech.
DesignTech spent nothing for setting up skill centres: CID
During the investigation, it was found that DesignTech did not spend anything for setting up centres and also for purchasing equipment and softwares,” CID officials reportedly informed the ACB court.
The alleged scam first came to light in 2017–18 after the director general of GST Intelligence and the Income Tax department uncovered a scheme involving fake invoices with no actual delivery of goods or services by the DesignTech company, which further led to Siemens.
“Suman Bose and Vikas Khanvilkar used a network of shell companies to issue fake invoices without actual delivery of goods and services and siphoned off funds worth around Rs 176 crore. The amount was further transferred through hawala. Out of the total Rs 371 crore released, Siemens received only Rs 58.8 crore,” the investigation revealed.
The investigation agency further informed the court that these funds were diverted to shell companies and subsequently withdrawn as cash, which was then handed over to individuals associated with former CM Naidu.
The CID had registered an FIR in December 2021 under Sections 120(B), 166, 167, 418, 420, 465, 468, 471, 477-A, 409, 201,109 r/w 34 & 37 of the IPC and Section 3 (2) r/w 13(1) (c) & (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.