Probe into APSMFC scam hits a wall

Hyderabad: The probe into the role of Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer MD Ilyas Rizvi in Rs 55.47 crore Andhra Pradesh State Minorities Finance Corporation (APSMFC) Fixed Deposit (FD) fraud has come to a standstill.

The CID had arrested four persons way back in October 2012 but the fifth accused Rizvi has not been touched so far as the undivided government of Andhra Pradesh refused to sanction permission to prosecute him.

Now Telangana CID has once again written to the AP government seeking permission to prosecute senior IFS officer of AP cadre.

In October 2012, based on the complaint lodged by M Dana Kishore, Secretary, Minorities Welfare Department (MWD), about the siphoning off Rs 55.47 crore department funds deposited at various city branches of the Vijaya Bank, CID sleuths registered a case and arrested four accused including Ch Venkata Koti Saikumar, who is a director of Swal Computers Ltd in Begumpet, his associates N Venkata Raman of Kondapur, B Keshav Rao, a bank deposit mediator from ECIL and Vijaya Bank assistant manager Naveen Sagar.

CID also named then APSMFC managing director (MD) Md Ilyas Rizvi as an accused in the case. After examining witnesses and interrogating the accused, CID found out that for depositing Rs 80 crore APSMFC funds with banks, Rizvi received Rs 80 lakh (one per cent) as commission.

After depositing Rs 80 crore in 28 accounts of 16 banks, including Vijaya Bank in Hyderabad, the accused kept the original FD receipts with them and furnished fake FD receipts with the APSMFC. They also opened a current account at the Vijaya Bank's Koti branch in the name of APSMFC with the help of one of the accused bank employee, Naveen Sagar.

The accused pre-closed FDs worth Rs 55.7 crore by furnishing the original FD receipts in their possession and then siphoned off the amount through 240 cheques issued in the name of 16 bogus firms opened by them.

After finishing the probe in the case, in January 2014, CID sleuths wrote to the state government seeking permission to prosecute IFS officer Rizvi. The state government refused to grant permission to prosecute Rizvi and wrote to CID saying that Disciplinary Action will be initiated against him.

Now, Telangana CID officials have written afresh to AP government seeking permission to prosecute AP State IFS officer MD Ilyas Rizvi and they are yet to receive a response from the government. "We have sought permission to prosecute Rizvi from AP government. Before the state bifurcation, the state government refused to grant permission but since the state has been divided, we have decided to again seek permission from the government of residuary state of AP to prosecute the official. We have already filed charge-sheet against the remaining four accused," a Telangana CID official told TOI on condition of anonymity.

A 1985 batch IFS officer, MD Ilyas Rizvi is currently working as Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Forest Resource), Andhra Pradesh.