After addressing the media in Vijayawada, the AP CID held a press conference in the Telangana capital about the skill development scam.
Published Sep 15, 2023 | 10:18 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 15, 2023 | 10:19 AM
AP CID Chief N Sanjay during press conference. (Sumit Jha/South First)
The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID), on Friday, 14 September, came out with what it called compelling evidence in support of former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s involvement in the infamous ₹371 crore skill development scam.
CID chief N Sanjay, in an apparent reply to Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan’s posers as to whether the investigation agency has any evidence, gave a PowerPoint presentation to the media in Hyderabad, showing the note files related to the release of ₹371 crore to the AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) with Naidu’s signatures at 13 places.
Earlier in the day, Pawan Kalyan challenged the CID to show evidence of the involvement of Naidu in the scam during a media interaction after conferring with the TDP chief at Rajamahendravaram Central Prison.
The CID Chief said: “These signatures stand as compelling evidence of Naidu’s direct involvement in the scam.”
He said of the ₹371 crore, ₹241 crore (excluding GST) was diverted to shell companies which he called proceeds of the crime. The shell companies provided fake invoices without supplying any equipment and services.
Additional Advocate General P Sudhakar Reddy, who was also present at the press conference, maintained that the funds were released despite objections raised by officials.
He said: “Naidu wielded substantial control over the entire project. Shockingly, without Siemens AG, a reputable German company that had undertaken the skill development project in Andhra Pradesh, being aware, another entity called SISW made a fraudulent claim of offering a grant-in-aid amounting to ₹3,330 crore as the 90 percent share of Siemens.”
The CID chief said: “GST officials from Pune raised concerns about irregularities in payment of GST by shell companies to which Skill Development Corporation transferred the 10 percent of the state share of the project.
“On May 14, 2018, the GST authorities sent a letter to the ACB (Anti-Corruption Bureau) DG in Andhra Pradesh which shed light on the scam involving ₹371 crore of the state’s finances. The government in power at that time received this correspondence, indicating that they were aware of the alerts from the Pune GST. However, no further action was taken to investigate or address the issue.”
Citing reasons for naming the TDP chief as Accused No 1, he said Naidu set up the corporation without getting the Cabinet nod and delegated key responsibilities to private individuals like Ganta Subba Rao by appointing him the head of the corporation.
Further, the value of Siemens Industrial Software India’s software, which was bought by the Corporation turned out to be just Rs 58.8 crore but it was shown in the account books as costing Rs 2,700 crore.
The key points that CID chief raised include:
The CID chief said: “These actions were carried out with a malicious intent to misappropriate public funds.”
