Within minutes of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) releasing a media statement announcing the provisional attachment of assets worth Rs 23.54 crore in connection with the misuse of funds in the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) Siemens project, certain media outlets and social media users reported that the ED had given a clean chit to Telugu Desam Party president and current chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The previous YSR Congress Party government, led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, had registered a criminal case against Naidu through the Crime Investigation Department, accusing him of involvement in a Rs 371 crore scam. Naidu spent 53 days in jail before being granted bail on October 31, 2023.
At the time, the Jagan government claimed that the ED had itself uncovered a massive scam within the skill development corporation and that Naidu had allegedly siphoned off money through various shell companies linked to him.
However, the ED’s statement did not mention Naidu's name. The ED said it had invoked the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to provisionally attach assets worth Rs 23.54 crore belonging to Designtech Systems Private Ltd and others named in the chargesheet.
The statement named individuals such as Vikas Vinayak Khanvelkar (MD of Designtech), Soumyadri Sekhar Bose (alias Suman Bose, ex-MD of Siemens Industry Software India Pvt Ltd), Mukul Chandra Agarwal, and Suresh Goyal, who had allegedly diverted government funds through shell companies using bogus invoices.
The ED revealed that funds were diverted via multi-layered transactions, and immovable properties, including residential properties in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Pune, had been traced and attached.
This led to several senior journalists and social media commentators interpreting that the ED had found no link between Naidu and the diverted funds. They claimed the ED’s investigation had only attached properties related to others involved, implying Naidu had no connection to the alleged scam.
Some even suggested that the ED had indirectly cleared Naidu of any wrongdoing.
A senior journalist, once perceived as pro-YSRCP, commented, "The ED statement clearly shows that there is no connection between Naidu and the alleged misappropriation of funds in the skill development project."
However, the YSR Congress Party dismissed these interpretations as false propaganda.
YSRCP argued that the ED had merely confirmed the attachment of certain properties as part of an ongoing investigation and that the press release did not exonerate anyone.
The party added, "This investigation is still under judicial review. The claims that Naidu has been cleared of any wrongdoing are misleading and premature." YSRCP emphasized that it would be inaccurate to assert that any individual, including Naidu, had been absolved at this stage.
