HYDERABAD: In a new twist to the Rs 64.5 crore Telugu Akademi scam, the police uncovered the role of four real estate businessmen in milking the academy dry after arresting six more persons on Wednesday, taking the total number of those apprehended in the case to 10.
According to Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar, the kingpin in the fraud - Sai Kumar - is a real estate businessman from Tanuku in Andhra Pradesh. He is also an accused in three similar cases in the past.Sai Kumar pulled off the operation by enlisting the support of the bank staff and the Akademi.
The Akademi's accounts in-charge, S Ramesh, would issue cheques to the bank for conversion into term deposits. The bank staff would divert the money into others' accounts and issue fake fixed deposit certificates in return for payment of kickbacks.
Ramesh would show these certificates to his higher-ups, who were under the impression that they were genuine. The bank staff invested their share of the booty in properties and some had even began money lending businesses. Sai Kumar himself pocketed a lion’s share of the embezzled funds from them.
The arrested persons are: Akademi Accounts in-charge S Ramesh, Chandanagar Canara Bank branch manager M Sadhana, realtor Sai Kumar, Somasekhar, Venkateswara Rao, Venkataraman, Union Bank of India chief manager Mastan Vali, AP Mercantile Cooperative Credit Society chairman Satyanarayana Rao, operational manager V Padmavathi and Syed Mohiuddin.
Sai Kumar was involved in three similar financial frauds at the AP Minority Welfare Society, AP Housing Board and in another case in Chennai.
Sai Kumar, adept at pulling off scams, and the three other real estate businessmen had siphoned off Rs 26 crore from UBI Bank, Karwan branch, Rs 11 crore from UBI Santosh Nagar branch and Rs 6 crore from Canara Bank, Chandanagar branch.
The siphoning of money had been taking place over the past nine months and the police so far have recovered only Rs 12 - 13 lakh, Commissioner Anjani Kumar said.