Six more held Rs 64-cr Telugu Akademi scam

Hyderabad: Six more persons, including a woman working as a branch manager of Canara Bank in the city, were arrested by the police in connection with the Telugu Akademi fixed deposits receipts (FDRs) scam on Wednesday. Earlier four persons were taken into custody.

The arrested persons were Segoori Ramesh, accounts officer at Telugu Akademi; M Sadhana, branch manager, Canara Bank, Chandanagar; Chunduri Venkata Koti Sai Kumar, realtor, Nanduri Venkata Raman, a native of Tanuku in West Godavari. Venkateshwar Rao alias Dr Venkat, a realtor from Khammam and Somashekhar alias Raj Kumar, also a realtor.

One of the masterminds, Sai Kumar, was allegedly involved in the AP Minority Welfare Society FDR scam case, AP Housing Board Scam and Northern Coal Fields Chennai FDR scam case, police said.

Three cases were registered by the Hyderabad Central Crime Station based on complaints from Union Bank of India, Canara Bank and Telugu Akademi.

“Sai Kumar used his expertise and planned the Telugu Akademi case with the help from the others. Bank officials, brokers and Telugu Akademi staff are involved,” City Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said.

A total of Rs. 64 crore was misappropriated in the case. “In collusion with other suspects, Venkat Ramana and Sai Kumar created fake FDRs and request letters, with the letters being sent to the bank. The fake FDRs were sent to the Akademi for records,” he said.

For instance, the gang would obtain an original letter and cheque for Rs.1 crore from the Akademi addressed to a bank asking to provide FDRs for one year. The suspects would then create a fake letter and submit in the bank asking it to give FDRs for a month or so. On the other hand, the gang would prepare and submit fake FDRs to the academy. “On record, the Akademi would be having a copy of letter and fake FDR in possession while the amount is actually withdrawn from the bank and diverted,” Joint Commissioner of Police Avinash Mohanty said.

The suspects after withdrawing money from various banks divided it and invested in real estate and paid off debts. “We have freezed some bank accounts. Investigation is still on to find out where the money has gone,” he added.

The police previously arrested Mastan Vali, chief manager working at the Union Bank of India, BVVN Satyanaryana Rao, CMD of AP Mercantile Cooperative Credit Society Limited, Vijayawada, V. Padmavathi, Manager (Operations) in AP Mercantile Cooperative Credit Society, Hyderabad and Sayyad Mohiuddin, relationship manager.