NELLORE: A hamali turned data entry operator, in collusion with a transport contractor, has swindled ₹29.78 crore belonging to AP State Civil Supplies Corporation. The fraud got detected after an internal audit at the Nellore unit of the corporation.
The main accused Sandepudi Siva Kumar joined civil supplies corporation in Nellore as a hamali. Working hard, he went on to become data entry operator in 2007. He went on to gain confidence of corporation’s district manager (DM) P. Padma. So much so, he went on to access her login ID and password.
Siva Kumar then colluded with second accused Ch. Dayakar, a transport contractor of mandal-level stock (MLS) points at Nellore and Indukurpeta of Nellore district.
The duo diverted amounts due to farmers for transporting paddy to rice mills, apart from monies payable to hamalis towards labour charges for loading and unloading paddy at eight MLS points. It is alleged Siva Kumar diverted money payable to rice millers too.
Siva Kumar and Dayakar’s mega scam got exposed during an internal audit of the corporation for the year 2021–22 a few days ago. The auditors realised that money had been siphoned off even during financial years 2020–21 and 2022–23 (up to September 2022).
Of the total ₹29.78 crore swindled, Siva Kumar transferred ₹6.89 crore to Dayakar and ₹22.89 crore to himself through various methods, including net banking and cheques.
Information about the scandal reached district collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu who ordered further inquiries. Since then, five civil supplies corporation officials have been suspended – district manager Padma, then assistant manager (Accounts) Ch. Jayashankar, then assistant managers (General) N. Radhamma and M.V.V.D. Sharma and cashier T. Arun Kumar on charges of serious lapses on their part.
Top-level officials suspect all these officials are hand in glove with the two main accused.
Chakradhar Babu said Vedayapalem police have on Friday filed criminal cases against data entry operator Siva Kumar and contractor Dayakar. A comprehensive probe will be carried out by joint collector R. Kurmanath into the multi-crore scam.
