VIJAYAWADA: Raids carried out at the offices of Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Limited (APSBCL) concluded after four days on Thursday. According to sources, as part of an investigation into the alleged multi-crore liquor scam, sleuths of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) under the State Crime Investigation Department (APCID) began inspections at the office of the Beverages Corporation in Vijayawada and other places across the State on Monday. Based on a preliminary investigation, the State government has identified irregularities to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore under the previous YSRC dispensation.
Stating that the real work will start now, a senior official on the condition of anonymity said, “We will use the help of experts to ascertain the modus operandi of the fraud, administrative sanctions on distilleries, quality measures, prices of liquor and other factors that caused loss to the exchequer. We will rope in experts from all fields such as finance, information technology, auditing, and forensics. While the estimated loss is around Rs 20,000 crore, we are expecting that the figure may cross Rs 25,000 crore. Role of Vasudeva Reddy and others is being probed thoroughly on the allegations of misconduct, causing pecuniary gains to selected persons, permissions to distilleries and others.”
During the investigation, officials reportedly noticed that top YSRC leaders floated benami distilleries and ensured that the Beverages Corporation purchased sub-standard liquor and beers from them. Following the instructions of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to probe into the alleged irregularities in the allotment of distilleries and sale of poor-quality liquor, CID officials registered an FIR against former APSBCL managing director D Vasudeva Reddy and others for abusing official power and causing hefty revenue loss to the State.
In June, CID officials conducted raids at the Hyderabad residence of Vasudeva Reddy and seized various documents from his possession.
Huge amount of data seized in CID searches
During the searches, investigation officers reportedly seized a huge amount of data, records, hard disks and other documents. The files will be sent for forensic and financial analysis, and technical evaluation to ascertain the quantum of money swindled and other administrative irregularities