CBI plans to scan cheques

[1]

The Central Bureau of Investigation has the Herculean task of going through lakhs of cheques piled up in the godowns of various banks in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and other places for its probe into the bogus companies that invested in firms belonging to Kadapa MP, Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The cheques (instruments) will be needed to connect the flow of money through the alleged fly-by-night companies into Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy’s firms. CBI sleuths are taking the help of bank officials to trace the cheques by getting the bank godowns opened.

A source in the agency said, “We are trying to knit a sequence of flow of funds by tracking back to each company. In case of companies belonging to the industrialist, Mr Nimmagadda Prasad, like Alpha Villas, Alpha Avenues and Gilchrist Investments that invested Rs 70 crore in Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy’s firms, we have traced the money route. We have got some specific evidence regarding money inflows into these companies.” “We are still probing regarding the other companies,” the source added. The cheques will be produced as evidence in court.

CBI quizzes auditors of Vanpic Ports on Prasad’s companies
The Central Bureau of Investi-gation on Sunday grilled the auditors of Vanpic Ports Private Limited, C. Maruthi Nagendram, Annam Raju and P. Jagannatham and the company secretary Nagendaran Jagannathan, on how Nimmagadda Prasad floated several companies in order to bag the Vadarevu Nizampatnam Ports and Industrial Corridor project. The CBI grilled Mr Prasad and IRAS official Brahmananda Reddy on the third day of questioning in CBI custody.

The key allegation is that Prasad floated Vanpic Projects Limited after the project was awarded to Vanpic Ports Limited by the state government. Vanpic Projects Limited, controlled by Nimmagadda Prasad, was allotted 13,000 acres of land where as Vanpic Ports is a special purpose vehicle with Ras Al Khaima as a partner. Sources said the auditor Nagendaran Jagannathan, reportedly told the CBI, that Vanpic invested in Jagan firms despite strong opposition from some of its directors.

Investigations have revealed that Vanpic Ports Private Limited, an SPV, was incorporated on March 31, 2008 with Nimmagadda Prasad and Matrix Enport Holdings as the original subscriber to the memorandum, without any mention or involvement of RAK. RAK entered Vanpic Ports subsequently.

The CBI also discovered during its investigation that Vanpic Projects Private Limited came into existence later and grabbed 13,000 acres of land in the Vanpic Ports area. The ports project was awarded to Vanpic Ports in July, 2008. However, while issuing the GO regarding allotment of land in September 2008, around 6,406 acres of land was allotted to Vanpic Projects Private Limited of Secunderabad.