A couple of hours after announcing the arrest of Telugu Desam Party chief and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu from his vehicle at R K Function Hall in Nandyal town, a state government note was released to the media describing him as Accused No. 1 in the Rs 371 crore AP Skill Development Scam.
The official note said Naidu was referred to as A-1 in the case and he was facing allegations of corruption and misleading the cabinet in a scam that had rocked the state.
However, the FIR which was shown to Naidu at the time of arrest did not have Naidu’s name at all. When he questioned the police about the same, they told him that his name was also being included in the FIR before he was arrested.
According to the FIR, former AP Skill Development Corporation (APSDC) chairman Ghanta Subba Rao was named as A-1, former IAS officer K Lakshminarayana as A-2 and Nimmagadda Venkata Krishna as A-3.
The police officials told him that Naidu’s name was being included as A-37. They told him that they are arresting him because there is a chance of him escaping abroad, like some of the accused.
According to the official note, he allegations against Naidu and others involved in the case include manipulating contracts, misappropriating public money, and orchestrating a fraudulent scheme under the guise of skill development corporation.
It said the government agencies such as GST, Intelligence, IT, ED, SEBI, among others, have all conducted thorough investigations into this scam. The authorities have successfully repatriated looted funds that were stashed abroad.
This scandal came to light just two months after Naidu assumed power in June 2014. The project in question had a total cost of Rs. 3,356 crores, with the government contributing 10 percent, while Siemens committed to 90 percent of the funding.
Siemens, a major player in this scandal, conducted an internal inquiry and provided a statement under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before a Magistrate. Siemens emphasized that their company had no involvement in the Joint Venture (JV) or the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) issued by the government.
One of the central issues in this case is the manner in which a note from Skill Development, showing the estimated cost as a Detailed Project Report (DPR), was presented to the cabinet, bypassing established government procedures.
This irregularity, combined with the swift approval and release of funds, has raised serious questions regarding adherence to rules, regulations, and due process. Furthermore, the contract and government orders appear to be at odds, as funds were released without a clear contractual basis.
Allegations suggest that Chandrababu Naidu had given orders for the immediate release of funds, even when objections were raised by finance department officials.
Key officials within the government, including the Finance Principal Secretary and the Chief Secretary, have reportedly played a role in facilitating the release of funds. However, the whereabouts of these funds remain unknown.
It has also come to light that over 70 transactions involving this money occurred through shell companies. A whistle blower had previously reported this skill development scam to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the state. Additionally, a government whistle blower issued a similar warning in June 2018.
Unfortunately, initial investigations into these claims were set aside. Moreover, note files related to the project were allegedly destroyed when these investigations commenced, it said.
