HYDERABAD: Even as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were fighting over the apportionment of the Telugu Academy’s assets, its fixed deposits amounting up to Rs 60 crore in banks in Hyderabad had allegedly been broken prematurely and the money transferred to fake accounts opened in the AP Mercantile Co-operative Credit Society.
According to police, they have arrested AP Mercantile Cooperative Credit Society Ltd chairman BVVN Satyanarayana Rao, manager Vedula Padmavathi and relationship manager Syeed Mohiuddin to this regard. After the Telugu Academy director lodged a complaint with the police that their fixed deposits of Rs 43 crore had prematurely been liquidated and transferred out of the bank, without the knowledge of the academy, the sleuths swung into action and found that there was more to it than what met the eye as more FDs were found to have been broken and money transferred out. The total money thus swindled amounted to Rs 60 crore.
After the Supreme Court pointed out that the assets of the Telugu Academy could be divided between AP and Telangana in the ratio of 58:42 and that the process should be over by October 28, the officials were making an audit of the assets. During the process, they decided to break the FDs of the academy. When they sent a request for the liquidation, there was no response from the banks.
As it appeared fishy, an official went to the bank and enquired personally and it became clear that the FDs were no longer there. He found out that they had been prematurely liquidated and the funds were moved out to fake accounts opened under the name of Telugu Academy in the AP Mercantile Co-operative Credit Society. Meanwhile, the police are also probing if either the Telugu Academy officials or the officials at the banks had any role in helping the accused draw the money.
After the news of the fraud broke out, the government took a serious note of the misappropriation of funds and ordered an inquiry by a three-member committee, headed by BIE commissioner Omar Jaleel, which is expected to submit its report to the government in a day or two. The brief to the committee was to find out if there was any connivance of the staff or officials of the Telugu Academy in the fraud.