Based on a petition by YSRCP Member of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh V Vijayasai Reddy, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will be looking into the alleged money laundering and frauds by Yalamanchili Satyanarayana Chowdary, a Rajya Sabha MP belonging to the BJP.
The YSRCP MP had sought an Enforcement Directorate and CBI probe into the activities of the BJP MP, which as of December 16 has been acknowledged by the MHA.
Vijayasai had on September 26 written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking a probe into the business activities of the BJP MP, who is also known as Sujana Chowdary. In his letter, Vijayasai had referred to Sujana as an “international scamster”.
On November 6, the President’s secretariat forwarded the letter to the MHA for further action. On December 16, in an MHA office memorandum, Under Secretary to the Government of India Ashok Kumar Pal forwarded copies of the complaint letter to the Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training and the Secretary, Department of Revenue and the Ministry of Finance for further action.
#MHA received complaint of @VSReddy_MP's against @yschowdary frm Pres'Secretariat. Reddy earlier in Oct' sought ED&CBI enquiry into activities of @yschowdary alleging him as an "int'national scamster,money launderer &master of fraudulent companies".@thenewsminute pic.twitter.com/aI94jgf3wT
— CharanTeja (@CharanT16) December 24, 2019
In his letter to the President, Vijayasai wrote that Sujana Chowdary directly and indirectly owned or controlled 106 companies. Vijayasai alleged that except for eight companies all others are shell companies involved in money laundering and tax avoidance activities.
The letter also alleged that in the functioning of the eight companies about 50% of the business is generated via the shell companies in India whereas another 20% to 25% is generated from foreign shell companies controlled indirectly by the Sujana group.
Vijayasai also alleged that about four to five offices located in Hyderabad were used to house dozens of accounting/finance professionals who are involved in creating fake bills, books and bank trails for the group.
The YSRCP MP alleged that the Sujana group owes more than Rs 8,000 crore to different banks and financial institutions whereas their market capitalisation is just Rs 132 crore. He also alleged that just two of the firm’s companies, Sujana Universal and Sujana Towers, owe the public sector banks Central Bank of India and Bank of India defaulted loans worth Rs 920 crore.
He also pointed out that there were allegations by the Central Bank of India that two companies controlled by Sujana allegedly provided the same collateral as security to various institutions.
Sujana Chowdary is also accused of indirectly operating companies based out of Singapore through his close aide P Mallikarjun Reddy. Vijayasai alleged that these Singapore based firms were being used to cook the books for all the Sujana group of companies based in India.
Apart from the alleged frauds involving companies in Singapore, Vijayasai has accused Sujana Chowdary of frauds in Dubai, the US and Mauritius.
The YSRCP MP pointed out in his letter to the President that the Sujana group was facing litigation for tax frauds to the tune of Rs 962 crore from the Sales Tax, Central Excise, Customs and Income Tax departments.
Responding to the MHA’s memorandum directing other departments to look into the allegations, Sujana Chowdary said that Vijayasai was trying to tarnish his image and that both his business and political lives were an open book. The BJP MP pointed out that it was common for the President’s Secretariat to acknowledge any petition or letter sent to the President and forward them to the department concerned, reported TNIE.