ED attaches properties worth Rs 23 crore in Andhra Pradesh Skill Development case

Amaravati: The Enforcement Directorate has attached immovable and movable properties amounting to Rs. 23.54 crore in a case relating to misuse of funds in the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) Siemens Project case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Hyderabad has provisionally attached the properties under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the central agency said on Tuesday.

The project was meant to promote skill development & entrepreneurship in Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the opposition YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh has reacted to the ED attaching properties in the case, claiming that the Central financial probe agency has confirmed that there was corruption in the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation Siemens Project.

"The ED has attached Rs.23 crore assets to confirm that there was corruption in Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation Siemens Project," YSRCP spokesperson P. Shiva Shankar Reddy said.

The YSRCP leader said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is the main accused in the case. He claimed that to divert public attention from this case, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was making baseless allegations against YSRCP President and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The CID had arrested Naidu on September 9 last year in the Skill Development scam which allegedly took place when he was the Chief Minister between 2014 and 2019. The next day a court in Vijayawada had sent him to judicial custody. The TDP chief spent 52 days in Rajahmundry Jail before he was released on bail by the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The CID had said that Naidu is the prime accused in the alleged fraud in Skill Development Corporation involving approximately Rs 550 crore. According to the CID, the case revolves around the establishment of clusters of centres of excellence in Andhra Pradesh. The total estimated project value was Rs 3,300 crore but a huge loss was caused to the state exchequer. The agency had claimed that Naidu and the TDP were the beneficiaries of misappropriated funds.

Naidu had denied the allegations and termed them politically motivated.