Misuse of funds in APSSDC Siemens project: ED attaches Rs 23.54 crore properties
Previously, the ED had attached Fixed Deposits amounting to Rs. 31.20 Crore of M/s DTSPL which has been confirmed by the adjudicating authority (PMLA)
VIJAYAWADA: The central government’s Enforcement Directorate, Hyderabad, has provisionally attached immovable and movable properties valued at Rs 23.54 crore in a money laundering (PMLA) and misuse of funds case. The case is linked to the AP Skill Development Corporation’s Siemens Project.
In a press release on Tuesday, the ED said the project was meant to promote skill development & entrepreneurship. The ED followed up an FIR registered by the state CID in the APSSDC Siemens Project against M/s Designtech Systems Pvt Ltd and others.
They are accused of cheating the AP government by diverting and siphoning off funds, invested by the state of Andhra Pradesh in the Siemens project, for other purposes.
The ED investigation showed Vikas Vinayak Khanvelkar, MD of M/s DTSPL, Soumyadri Sekhar Bose alias Suman Bose (ex-MD of Siemens Industry Software India) and their associates, Mukul Chandra Agarwal and Suresh Goyal diverted the state government funds for other purposes.
They did this with the help of shell/defunct entities through multi-layered transactions. Funds were siphoned off on the strength of bogus invoices that wrongly claimed supply of materials/services.
The services of entry providers were taken for the diversion of funds, for which a commission was paid to them, investigations showed.
"The Proceeds of Crime in the hands of these accused persons and entry providers were identified. Various movable properties in the form of bank balances and shares, and immovable properties in the form of residential properties in Delhi NCR, Mumbai & Pune, were traced and attached.”
It said, “Previously, ED had attached Fixed Deposits amounting to Rs 31.20 crore of M/s DTSPL, which has been confirmed by the adjudicating authority, PMLA. ED had arrested Vikas Vinayak Khanvelkar, Suman Bose, Mukul Chandra Agarwal and Suresh Goyal, and filed a Prosecution complaint before the Special Court (PMLA), Visakhapatnam.”
The court has taken cognizance of the same and further investigation is on, it added.