Two Persons Arrested in AP Skill Development Scam

The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (APCID), which is probing the AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) ‘scam’ have arrested two persons in connection with the Skill Development scam which took place during Chanradrababu Naidu led TDP rule.The arrested persons are CA VipinKumar Sharma and his wife Neelam Sharma. They were taken to Vijayawada on a transit warrant and produced before the court. The court remanded the arrested into judicial custody till september 7. 

The crime dates back to 2014, during the TDP regime. 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. 

Highly placed sources in the department said that Soumyadri Shekhar Bose, A6 in the case,  made a correspondence with the state government and managed to release Rs 371 crore in favour of DesignTech company towards government share in advance without executing any work by the technology partners. 

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 is 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.

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