Vigilance for cheating case on Nama Nageswara Rao

Hyderabad: The vigilance and enfor-cement department has recommended slapping a cheating and corruption case, and a CBI probe against TD MP Nama Nageswara Rao, chairman and managing director, Madhucon Projects Limited, AP Housing Board Officials, CRISIL representatives and others for conspiring and grabbing a project worth hundreds of crores on 9.04 acres of government land illegally.

The said land is located in Kukatpally. The project included development of hotels, malls and buildings. Vigilance identified several irregularities, including fraudulent misrepresentation and violation of conditions of the Expression of Interest and Request for Proposal pertaining to the joint venture project.

In its report submitted to the chief secretary, V&E has reportedly asked the government to initiate suitable criminal action against Madhucon Binapuri consortium. It is learnt to have recommended referring the issue either to the CID or the CBI since the said persons had conspired together to grab the project illegally and facilitated the developer acquiring the land without development.

It has been alleged that the TD MP managed APHB officials to grab the project. Land in 7.92 acres is still left undeveloped, even after eight years from the letter of award in 2004. The company has failed to complete the project even though the period was extended to 2011.

Vigilance found out that APHB officials had done the EoI evaluation without involving CRISIL, so as to qualify Madhucon-Binapuri consortium at the EoI stage. The statement that CRISIL has done the evaluation is an attempt to escape from the accountability of irregular selection of Madhucon-Binapuri consortium.

Vigilance also found that the consortium had filed invalid documents regarding experience which shows that they have executed projects as works contracts, but not as developers as envisaged in EoI.

They have formed SPVs without equity stake of technical consortium member and deliberate misrepresentation of existence of TCM in SPVs to the APHB in 2009. It is alleged that Madhucon deliberately concealed the exit of Binapuri TCM and misrepresented to APHB that TCM holds 11 per cent equity in the SPV.

IAS official S.N. Mohanty was the vice-chairman and housing commissioner of APHB from 2003 to 2007. The entire process right from issue of EoI to permission to sell nonexistent cold shell occurred during this period.