Andhra Pradesh Ex-CM Chandrababu Naidu Produces Before ACB Court in Skill Development Scam Case

Former Andhra Pradesh CM and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu was produced before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court in Vijayawada regarding an alleged Skill Development Corporation scam early Sunday morning.

Officials reported that the former CM appeared in court within 24 hours of his arrest. Prior to that, he had undergone a medical checkup at the Vijayawada government hospital and was subsequently returned to the SIT (Special Investigation Team) office.

On Saturday, Chandrababu Naidu was apprehended by the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in connection with an alleged corruption case. The case involves the establishment of clusters of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in Andhra Pradesh, with an estimated project value of Rs 3,300 crore.

Officials from the agency also asserted that the alleged fraud has resulted in a significant loss exceeding Rs 300 crores to the state government. According to the CID, the investigation unveiled serious irregularities, such as the state government providing an advance of Rs 371 crores, representing the entire 10 percent commitment, to private entities before any expenditure was incurred.

CID officials revealed that most of the government-provided funds were diverted to shell companies through counterfeit invoices, with no actual delivery or sale of the items listed in these invoices.

In the remand report, the CID indicated that, according to the ongoing investigation, the entire amount expended by private entities for six skill development clusters was exclusively sourced from funds advanced by the Government of AP and AP Skill Development Center, amounting to Rs 371 crores.