The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Wednesday reportedly interviewed LIFE Mission chief executive officer U. V. Jose.
The agency was probing whether the State agency had violated any laws while entering into a contract with UAE-Red Crescent to built 140 dwellings for needy families in Thrissur.
Investigators reportedly sought information on whether the former Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, M. Sivasankar, had any role in shaping the controversial agreement.
They also inquired whether the LIFE Mission had legally vetted the deal with UAE-Red Crescent before becoming a signatory in the memorandum of understanding struck with the foreign entity.
Pecunirary adavantage
The VACB also sought to probe whether if any government had official had caused any private party to gain pecuniary advantage from the deal. It also reportedly asked Mr. Jose if the LIFE Mission had any role in awarding the contract to a private builder who had testified in court that he had paid nearly ₹5 crore as bribe to brokers to seal the bargain.
The UAE consulate-linked gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh, and few of her accomplices in the alleged offence had reportedly received brokerage from the builder for helping him bag the contract.
At the time of the agreement, Swapna was in the employ of the diplomatic mission. She often represented the consulate in its dealings with the government.
Number of apartments
The VACB has also factored in a complaint that the facilitators of the housing project had reduced the number of apartments from 200 to 140 to help the builder balance the amount he had paid as a bribe for the lucrative contract.
The LIFE Mission had maintained that it had no role in the award of the contract. The MoU clearly stated that the UAE-Red Crescent would build the dwellings on 2.8 acres of public land provided by the government at an estimated cost of ₹20 crores and hand them over to the State government for distribution to beneficiaries of the LIFE Mission scheme.
The government had also said the deal had caused no loss to the public exchequer. The CBI was probing whether the LIFE Mission had violated the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act by “accepting” aid from the UAE-Red Crescent.