Misappropriation of funds: FIR filed against Azharuddin, other HCA members
Hyderabad: Uppal Police of Rachakonda commissionerate has registered criminal cases against former officer bearers of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), including its former president Mohammad Azharuddin, on the allegations of misappropriation of funds during the procurement of gym equipment, cricket balls, fire extinguishers and also bucket seats which are to be used by the HCA in its premises and also in the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
The misappropriation of HCA funds and diversion of funds to private agencies under the pretext of supplying material to HCA which is alleged to have happened during the period from March 2020 to February 2023, came to light during a forensic audit conducted by a private firm on the request of the HCA. The forensic audit revealed financial loss, diversion of funds, and misappropriation of assets funds belonging to HCA, following which HCA CEO Suneel Kante Bose lodged a complaint and four cases were registered.
For procuring fire safety equipment, the tender was awarded to M/s Firewin Safety Engineers which has quoted Rs.1,88,97,759 (exclusive of taxes) for HCA, but a quotation obtained by the forensic auditors through a third party expert for the same was at Rs 54,31,014. The audit found that the quotation was made at 248 per cent more than the existing prices, indicating a huge outflow of funds beyond what should have been for this item.
Further, for procuring red and white test balls, the officer bearers had favoured Sara Sports, whose credentials are suspicious. It is also alleged that the tender process was not handled by the tender committee and was executed by Mohammad Azharuddin and the then treasurer Surender Agarwal. Even without delivering the orders, complete payments were also made to the vendor, indicating that the funds were misappropriated and were converted for their own use, amounting to a loss of over Rs 57 lakh.
Another case pertains to the purchase of bucket chairs from M/s. Excellent Enterprises. While the agreement was to deliver and install 1100 chairs in 15 days from the order date, it was manually changed to 45 days. Further, only 700 chairs were delivered within the deadline and the remaining 400 chairs were delivered after around two years. The entire process resulted in a loss of Rs.43,11,720 to HCA.
Even for procurement of gym equipment, an order was placed to Body Drench India Private which inflated the price by Rs. 1,50,37,112 (exclusive of taxes and unpaid dumbbell set price), indicating over invoicing and loss to HCA.
In addition to these, police also registered three more cases in connection with the players submitting fake age certificates to play in underage teams. Police are probing for the details of those issued the certificates and also how they were cleared off at the HCA.
