Hyderabad: The city-based MESCO, a popular non-profit organisation which runs health facilities and educational institutions, is caught in the web of deceit and corruption woven by people at its helm of affairs.
Dr Fakhruddin Mohammed, secetrary of MESCO (Modern Educational Social and Cultural Organisation), and his associates have been facing allegations of diverting and swindling funds besides bringing disrepute to the organisation by admitting students in excess of the permitted strength.
Inquiries by Deccan Chronicle revealed that a method was devised to siphon off funds. They invested in educational institutions run by other societies on behalf of MESCO but allegedly gradually converted them into their personal investments. Lands were purchased from the proceeds of the educational institutions but were allegedly registered in favour of individuals.
“Land documents were not produced for audit and it is found that payments are made in cash,” pointed out the audit company Hawaldar and Associates, which had done a comprehensive audit into the affairs of Blue Birds Education Society, Warangal, at the behest of Dr Fakhruddin himself.
Material available in the court of third additional district judge, Warangal, pointed out several lapses including booking lakhs of rupees of preliminary expenses without vouchers and not accounting for various fees collected from students.
“We received computers and books worth Rs 10 lakh from MESCO. At the time of paying back the amount Dr Fakhruddin asked us to deposit the money in Blue Birds instead of MESCO,” Basheer Qureshi, a former member of manging committee of Mahabubia Panjetan, told Deccan Chronicle. The amount deposited in Blue Birds was subsequently shown as an investment made by Dr Fakhruddin.
It was also found that his associates purchased about two acres of land in Warangal, the value of which runs into crores of rupees, from the educational society funds. But, the registration documents for the land that is located in Survey No. 159 and 61 in Hasanparti mandal of Warangal district showed individual members of the managing committee as owners.
Inquiries also revealed that more than Rs 10 crore was spent on setting up diagnostic labs in Lucknow, Delhi and Kolkata to serve as authorised service providers for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries but they remained non-starters with the GCC refusing accreditation.
Besides, MESCO College of Pharmacy ran into trouble with the management admitting 100 students against the strength of 60 sanctioned by the Pharmacy Council of India. Twenty eight students admitted in excess have lost their academic year as they were forced to leave the college and the fate of another 12 students hangs in balance, sources said.
