Andhra skill development scam: ED arrests former MD of Siemens, 3 others
Former MD of Siemens Soumyadri Shekhar Bose was arrested
By Newsmeter Network Published on 14 March 2023 12:58 PM GMT
Former MD of Siemens Soumyadri Shekhar Bose alias Suman Bose (file photo)
Hyderabad: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has arrested four people, including the former MD of Siemens Industry Software India Pvt. Ltd. (SISW), in the Andhra Pradesh skill development scam.
The arrested persons are Soumyadri Shekhar Bose alias Suman Bose, the former MD of Siemens Industry Software India Pvt. Ltd. (SISW); Vikas Vinayak Khanvelkar, MD of Designtech Systems Pvt. Ltd.; Mukul Chandra Agrawal, ex-financial advisor and authorised signatory of Skillar Enterprises India Pvt. Ltd.; and Suresh Goyal, a Chartered Accountant.
All four were produced before the Special PMLA Court, Visakhapatnam which has granted the ED seven days custody of the accused persons.
The PMLA investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Andhra Pradesh CID regarding the swindling of government money to the extent of Rs. 241 crores. The ED investigation revealed the diversion and siphoning of government funds given to Designtech Systems Pvt. Ltd. through Skillar Enterprises India Pvt. Ltd. and thereafter through a web of shell companies under the guise of supplying software, hardware, materials, and services without any genuine supplies.
The investigation revealed that the purpose for such diversion of funds was to generate cash and thereby siphon off money from the system without utilising the same for the Siemens Projects for which funds were sanctioned by the government of Andhra Pradesh. So far, a money trail of diversion of around Rs. 70 crores has been established during ED investigations.
