ED files fresh chargesheet in Andhra Pradesh skills development case; finds no role of CM Naidu

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has filed a fresh chargesheet in the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) Siemens project case stating that while government funds were "diverted" by certain accused no role of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was found in laundering of the proceeds of crime.

The previous YSRCP-led Andhra Pradesh government of chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy had arrested Naidu in this case in September 2023 alleging irregularities in the scheme caused a loss of Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer.

Naidu had spent more than 50 days in the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison before the Andhra High Court granted him bail on October 31, 2023.

A local court in Vijaywada also recently accepted a closure report filed in this case by the state CID and closed the investigation against Naidu.

The ED case is based on the CID FIR.

The federal probe agency, as per officials, has stated in the supplementary chargesheet that its probe did not find any role of Naidu in the "laundering" of the proceeds of crime in this case and hence he was not arraigned as an accused in the said complaint.

The court took cognisance of this fresh prosecution complaint on January 28, the ED said in a statement issued on Saturday.

The skill development project pertained to setting up clusters of Centres of Excellence (CoEs), with the total project cost estimated at Rs 3,300 crore.

The fresh chargesheet has been filed against the accused company, Designtech Systems Pvt. Ltd. (DTSPL), its MD Vikas Khanvelkar, ex MD of Siemens Industry Software India Pvt. Ltd. Soumyadri Sekhar Bose alias Suman Bose and their "close associates" Mukul Chandra Agarwal, Suresh Goyal and some others.

Khanvelkar, Bose, Agarwal and Goyal "diverted" the government funds with the help of shell and defunct entities through multi-layered transactions and "siphoned off" the funds on the strength of "bogus" invoices under the pretext of supply of materials and services, the ED alleged in the statement.

"The services of entry providers were taken for the diversion of funds for which commission was paid to them," it said.

The four were arrested by the ED in 2023 and the total value of the attached assets in this case stands at Rs 54.74 crore, as per the agency.

Officials said this was the last ED chargesheet in this case until some new evidence emerges.

After the Vijaywada court closure development, senior YSRCP leader and former minister K Kannababu accused the TDP-led NDA government of "influencing investigating agencies and systematically closing cases" registered against Naidu. Naidu's TDP is a coalition partner of the Modi government-led NDA at the Centre.