Amaravati: The Crime Investigation Department of Andhra Pradesh Police on Thursday produced GVS Bhaskar, an accused in the AP State Skill Development Corporation scam, in a Vijayawada court on Thursday, an official said.
Bhaskar, a former employee of Siemens Industrial Software, was arrested from Noida and brought to the state under a 36-hour transit remand.
“He (Bhaskar) prepared a fake DPR (detailed project report) with overvaluation, keeping a margin of more than Rs 200 crore out of Rs 371 crore (released by the state government),” the official said.
The skill development programme was envisaged under the then Telugu Desam Party government between 2014 and 2019.
According to officials, Bhaskar inflated the valuation of the project, which involved Siemens Industrial Software India and Design Tech Systems, to Rs 3,300 crore. However, the cost of Siemens Industrial Software India’s software was only Rs 58 crore.
Suman Bose, the then MD of Siemens Industrial Software India, and Design Tech System MD Vikas Kanwilkar allegedly met the then chief minister Chandrababu Naidu for the project in 2014-15.
As part of the agreement, Siemens Industrial Software India and Design Tech Systems were to contribute 90 per cent of the funds for the programme with the balance 10 per cent coming from the state government.
However, neither company spent a single penny while the state government’s share of 10 per cent — amounting to Rs 371 crore — was allegedly misappropriated, the CID stated.
It is alleged that former special secretary to the state government Ganta Subba Rao and former IAS officer K Lakshminarayana had played key roles in the programme. The Crime Investigation Department (CID) identified Lakshminarayana as a close friend of Naidu.
CID officials claimed that the misappropriated money was funnelled into shell companies such as Allied Computers (Rs 60 crore), Skillers India, Knowledge Podium, Cadence Partners and ETA Greens.
According to reports, former finance secretary Sunita had objected to the release of funds but senior government officials overruled her.
When the CID contacted the German headquarters of Siemens, it clarified that Bose had acted on his own volition, which resulted in his services being terminated, the official said.
The Enforcement Directorate has also launched a probe into the alleged scam and has issued notices to 26 people.
