Two held in Andhra Pradesh Skill Development scam

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (APCID) has arrested two persons in New Delhi on Wednesday in connection with the AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam that allegedly took place in the previous Telugu desam Party government led by Chandrababu Naidu. The accused – CA VipinKumar Sharma and his wife Neelam Sharma, were […]

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (APCID) has arrested two persons in New Delhi on Wednesday in connection with the AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam that allegedly took place in the previous Telugu desam Party government led by Chandrababu Naidu.

The accused – CA VipinKumar Sharma and his wife Neelam Sharma, were taken to Vijayawada on a transit warrant and produced in the cour which remanded them into judicial custody till September 7.

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The crime dates back to 2014, when the APSSDC had entered into a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with SIEMENS for imparting hi-end technology training. The company offered training programmes in collaboration with various state governments for the unemployed youth. The CID alleged that former managing director of APSSDC Ghanta Subba Rao, former director Dr K Lakshmi Narayana and other officials along with some private companies flouted rules and caused loss to the State exchequer.

The entire issue came to light in 2017 when the Directorate General of GST intelligence unit, Pune, registered a case against DesignTech, for raising fake bills through various shell companies. The amount was further diverted to other associated shell companies by raising fake invoices. Even in the internal investigation carried out by SIEMENS, it was concluded that funds from APSSDC were diverted by DesignTech by giving a subcontract to one PVSP IT Skills and then to other companies without providing any service or supplying goods.