VIJAYAWADA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Hyderabad Zonal Office, has provisionally attached immovable and movable properties amounting to Rs 23.54 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in a case related to misuse of funds in the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) Siemens Project.
Soon after the YSRC formed the government in 2019, cases were booked against the then former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and others alleging irregularities. APCID arrested 13 persons, including Naidu in the case.
Meanwhile, the ED also initiated an investigation based on FIR registered by the APCID in the multi-crore APSSDC scam against DesignTech Systems Private Limited (DTSPL) and others accused of siphoning off the funds invested by the government in the project.
During the investigation, it was revealed that Vikas Vinayak Khanvelkar, Managing Director of DTSPL, Soumyadri Sekhar Bose alias Suman Bose (former MD of Siemens Industry Software India Pvt Ltd) and their close associates, Mukul Chandra Agarwal and Suresh Goyal diverted the funds with the help of shell, defunct entities through multi-layered transactions under the pretext of supply of materials/services.
The services of entry providers were taken for the diversion of funds for which a commission was paid to them. Earlier, the ED had attached fixed deposits amounting to Rs 31.20 crore of DTSPL. It also arrested Khanvelkar, Suman Bose, Mukul Chandra and Suresh Goyal, and filed a prosecution complaint before the Special Court in Vizag. Further investigation is in progress.