Producers’ council scam gets murkier

The fraud in the Telugu Film Producers’ Council (TFPC) is getting murkier. On Tuesday, the committee members, including the president of the TFPC, confirmed that some funds had been misused. “The treasurer and a member from the accounts department did the fraud and it took some time for us to confirm it,” said Burugupalli Sivarama Krishna, president of TFPC.

 

“I would like to clarify that the committee members are not involved. An enquiry is going on by a new audit team,” said Burugupalli. 

According to a source, veteran producer K.C. Sekhar Babu, who holds the treasurer’s post, had misused a fixed deposit (FD) amount of Rs 25 lakh. He was supposed to deposit the amount in a bank, but instead he used it for his personal use. “But he paid the interest for the same amount to the council every month. When the FD matured he also repaid the entire money of Rs 25 lakh to the council. So no one has any doubts,” says a source.

 

In a recent audit they came to know that an amount of Rs 46 lakh was misused by some members. “We are still enquiring how many persons are involved in the scam and how large the amount is. We are auditing the accounts from 2003,” added Burugupalli.

 

T. Prasanna Kumar, secretary of the council, who wasn’t present at the meeting, said, “How can you say that the committee members are not involved before the enquiry is over? I suspect there are bigger hands at play and the case is now going in a wrong way to save some people.”

 

The elections for the council were postponed due to some legal problems and a caretaker body is looking after the affairs of the council. Many producers are also accusing the present committee as they invested Rs 2.6 crore on land near Kokapet without the approval of the general body. Surprisingly, no police complaint has been filed.

 

“Once the final report about the fraud comes out, we will put it in front of Dasari Narayana Rao as he will form a new committee under his chairmanship. Whatever action he takes we will accept it,” said Thammareddy Bharadwaj. 

When asked how the committee members blindly signed cheques and documents without confirming, Burugupalli said, “Because of trust.”