Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (APCID) investigation officers arrested a former employee of Siemens Industry Software Pvt Ltd in the alleged AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam on Wednesday. A special team of CID officials took the accused GVS Bhaskar, who earlier worked with Siemens, from his residence in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida and brought him to Vijayawada under a Prisoner Transit (PT) warrant. Later in the day, Bhaskar was produced before the CID special court in the city. According to sources in the CID, Bhaskar, in collusion with government officials, allegedly played a crucial role in manipulating the project estimates and artificially inflated the valuation of Siemens’ skill development program to Rs 3,300 crore, while creating an obligation for the State government to pay Rs 371 crore, which was 10 percent of the total project cost.
“Though the cost of the software supplied by Siemens Industry Software Pvt Ltd was invoiced at just Rs 58 crore (without any discount), Bhaskar manipulated the estimates of the project to reach the figure of Rs 3,300 crore,” said sources. It was also learned that the accused was the mastermind behind the manipulation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). “Bhaskar and the other accused in the case conspired with the then government officials and manipulated the MoU in such a manner that the wording indicated as if Siemens and DesignTech were given a work order worth Rs 371 crore,” sources said. Every mention of the valuation of the project and the obligation of the technology partners to contribute 90 percent of the cost of the project was left out deliberately,” sources added. In a d d, I t I o n, Bhaskar introduced his wife Aparna, Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer, as deputy CEO of APSSDC with the help of former MD and CEO G Subba Rao, the prime accused in the case, the sources revealed.
“Subba Rao played a key role in bringing Aparna on inter-cadre deputation to AP and posting her as deputy CEO of APSSDC. Bhaskar reached out to the officials of the Central Institute of Tools Design (CITD) and managed to manipulate the report given by the organization in favor of himself and the other accused. Later, he moved to Aptus Health Care from Siemens soon after the Income Tax authorities started an investigation and identified irregularities such as siphoning off funds in collusion with Designtech, Skillar, and other firms involved in the scam,” according to sources.
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