Andhra Pradesh: ACB quizzes Secretariat staff on check disbursal

VIJAYAWADA:  Continuing the investigation into the case related to attempts made by unidentified offenders to withdraw more than Rs 1,17.15 crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) account by submitting fake cheques in places across the country, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials questioned around 40 employees working in various departments in the State Secretariat on Tuesday.

According to sources in the ACB department, the secretariat employees were reportedly questioned on various issues pertaining to issuance of cheques to the beneficiaries under the scheme such as maximum amount of aid given to a person, rules for issuing cheques, ground level verification mechanism, tracking mechanism of cheque disbursement process and counter filings. The employees were also requested to provide data of the total number of cheques issued from 2015 to check irregularities, if any.

It may be recalled that the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and ACB officials registered cases following a complaint lodged by the assistant secretary, P Murali Krishna Rao, to the Thulluru police on September 20, 2020 after a few persons tried to withdraw Rs 1,17.15 crore by deppositing forged cheques with the same numbers at three different banks in Karnataka, Delhi and West Bengal on September 18 and 19. After a month-long investigation, CID officials had taken 10 persons into custody from Mangalore.

Data from 2015 sought

It is also learnt that the Secretariat employees were also requested to provide data of the total number of cheques issued from 2015 to check irregularities, if any