Page 9 - Scam

Andhra HC grants bail to Chandrababu Naidu in Skill Development scam case

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday granted regular bail to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu in the Skill Development Corporation scam case. The court converted Naidu's four-week interim medical bail into absolute bail and ordered the former chief minister's release on regular bail. "The interim bail granted to A37 (Naidu) dated October 31 is made absolute, and the petitioner (Naidu) is ordered to be released on regular bail on the bail bond already furnished by him," the court said in its order. However, the interim bail conditions such as refraining from making any public comments related to the Skill Development Corporation scam case or organising or participating in public rallies and meetings will continue to be in force till November 28. The High Court said these conditions will be relaxed from November 29. Further, the court directed Naidu to produce his medical reports to the Special Court in Vijayawada on or before November 28 instead of submitting them to the Superinten

Delhi surgery scam: Pharmacist who referred patients to clinic arrested

The Delhi Police has arrested a 42-year-old pharmacist for his alleged involvement in death of of a patient during surgery in a clinic in south Delhi's Greater Kailash, officials said on Sunday. The pharmacist used to refer patient to the clinic where two patients recently died during surgery. The police have arrested four persons, including a quack, in the case. Neeraj Agarwal, who runs the Agarwal Medical Centre, Jaspreet Singh (both MBBS doctors), Agarwal's wife Pooja and former laboratory technician Mahender Singh were arrested on November 14 and produced in a court on November 16, which sent them to five-day police custody. The latest development in the case came on Sunday with the arrest of Julfiqar who runs a pharmacy shop in the Sangam Vihar area, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Chandan Choudhary said. Julfiqar sells homeopathy and allopathy medicines and has done a course in D.Pharma. He used to refer patients who came to his shop with ailments such as kidney stones,

How a racket of fake doctor, technician unfolded in Delhi: All details here

The doctors also used to allow 'other inexperienced people' to perform surgeries in lieu of small payments, police claimed

Cognitive tools for thwarting scams

In an era where we constantly fear being swindled, a book that delves into the psychology of deception and offers guidance on steering clear of fraud becomes essential reading

SC defers hearing on ex-Andhra CM Naidu's bail plea in FibreNet case

The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned to November 30 the hearing on TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu's plea seeking anticipatory bail in the FibreNet case. A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi deferred the matter, saying that the judgement in another petition filed by Naidu seeking quashing of plea in the skill development scam case is likely to be delivered after the court's Diwali vacation. "There is another petition by the same petitioner which has certain overlapping issues in which judgement has been reserved by this bench. Let the matter be listed for hearing on November 30," the bench said. During the brief hearing, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Naidu, said the initial arrangement that the police would not arrest Naidu should continue. Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Andhra Pradesh government, said the arrangement is continuing. The top court had earlier asked the Andhra Pradesh Police not to arrest Naidu in the FibreNet cas

Explained | Mahadev betting app row

The Mahadev betting app case is back in news, following the Centres's move to shut down 22 illegal online gambling platforms, including the notorious Mahadev app. Watch the video to know more

Over 300 crypto fraud complaints received, will take action: Himachal Dy-CM

More than 300 complaints have been received from across Himachal Pradesh in connection with a multi-crore cryptocurrency ponzi scam, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said, referring to the fraud that began in the state in 2018. He had presided over a meeting on Friday to review the action being taken against the perpetrators, who cheated people by promising them high profits on investments within a short span of time, an official statement said. People should guard themselves from falling prey to such ponzi schemes and cryptocurrency frauds, Agnihotri said. "I am observing that complaints have been pouring in from various districts of the state wherein people have been cheated by the kingpin of the cryptocurrency fraud," he said, according to the statement issued on Saturday. He added that more than 300 complaints have been received by the police till date. Ten culprits from Mandi and two from Una have been arrested so far in connection with the case, Agnihotri said. Subhash

SIT conducts searches at 41 locations in Himachal in cryptocurrency scam

The SIT probing the alleged multi-crore cryptocurrency scam conducted searches at 41 different locations in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday and arrested one of the main accused Abhishek Sharma, who was evading arrest, police said on Sunday. Abhishek, a resident of Una district was one of the main four accused in the scam that started in 2018 when the alleged fraudsters approached people with an investment plan related to a locally made (Mandi district) cryptocurrency known as "Korvio Coin" or KRO coin, police said. Earlier, two main accused Sukhdev and Hemraj were held in Gujarat, and during investigations, the duo confessed they have outstanding liabilities of Rs 400 crore. The alleged kingpin of the scam, Subash, is still at large and is reportedly hiding in Dubai. Abhishek was apprehended by the SIT and produced in a court, which remanded him to five-day police custody, a statement issued by the police said. Searches were conducted at 25 places in Hamirpur, seven in Kangra, four in .

Kerala LIFE mission case: ED attaches assets worth over Rs 5 crore

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has attached assets worth more than Rs 5 crore in connection with its ongoing money laundering probe into an alleged scam in Kerala's LIFE Mission, which was meant for providing homes to flood victims. The properties attached include residential premises in the name of Santhosh Eappen and immovable property and bank balances in the name of Swapna Suresh, the federal agency said in a statement. The total value of these properties is Rs 5.38 crore, it said. It alleged that a conspiracy was hatched by Sarith PS and Swapna Suresh, former employees of the UAE consulate, with "active support" of M Sivasankar, a former principal secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and Sandeep Nair and others. This was done, the ED said, to "generate commission as bribe" from the funds donated by Red Crescent by awarding the LIFE Mission project to Unitac Builders and Developers and Sane Ventures LLP run by Santhosh Eappen "without following ..

Mahadev betting app case accused held at airport, handed over to Raj cops

A key accused in the Mahadev betting app case, Mrugank Mishra, was detained at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai by security personnel on his arrival from Dubai, an official said on Monday. Mishra is accused of helping Mahadev betting app promoters open hundreds of dubious bank accounts to divert money generated by the scam. His custody was later taken by a police team from Rajasthan, where he faces a cheating and forgery case related to the Mahadev app matter, the official said. The 25-year-old was apprehended by security personnel at the airport after his arrival from Dubai on Saturday and handed over to the Sahar police in Mumbai. A team of the Pratapgarh police in Rajasthan came to Mumbai on Sunday and took his custody and placed him under arrest, he said. Mishra is wanted in connection with a cheating and forgery case registered at the Pratapgarh police station related to the Mahadev betting app case and a look out circular (LOC) was issued against

Cannot keep Sisodia in jail in excise policy cases indefinitely: SC to CBI

The Supreme Court told the CBI and ED on Monday they cannot keep former deputy chief minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia in jail for an "indefinite period" in the Delhi excise policy cases. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the two probe agencies, when will the arguments on charges against Sisodia commence in the trial court. "You cannot keep him behind (bars) for an indefinite period. You cannot keep him behind like this. Once a chargesheet is filed in a case, arguments on charge should commence immediately," the bench told Raju. Raju told the bench the cases against Sisodia are at the stage of section 207 of CrPC (supply of documents to the accused) and after that the arguments on charge will commence. "Why have the arguments on charge not yet commenced and when will they commence? Tell us by tomorrow (Tuesday)," Justice Khanna told Raju. The top court was hearing the bail pleas of Sisodia, who was arres

ED arrests Hardoi pharmacy institute's chairman on money laundering charges

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it has arrested the chairman of a Hardoi-based pharmacy institute as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation into alleged Rs 100-crore scholarship scam in Uttar Pradesh. Ram Gopal, chairman of Jivika Institute of Pharmacy and manager of Dr B R Ambedkar Educational Society, Hardoi was taken into custody on Friday and a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Lucknow sent him to ED custody for seven days on Saturday, the federal agency said in a statement. This is the fifth arrest in this case by the ED. The money laundering case stems from an Uttar Pradesh Police FIR. The probe found that managers and trustees of various institutes got "fake" students admitted to their institutes and applied for scholarships in their names on the government portal with the sole purpose of taking wrongful advantage of government schemes meant for needy students, the ED said. All the formalities in this regard were comple

Thousands lose over Rs 200 cr in series of crypto rug-pulls in Himachal

Police are yet to nab the cryptocurrency fraud kingpin who may have swindled thousands of people across Himachal Pradesh of more than Rs 200 crore since 2018, the year the crypto fever reached its peak. The gang lured people by promising high returns in a short span of time in crypto investments and created a network of investors. The initial investors then were baited to reel in other people in a ponzi-style scheme. The matter was raised in the Vidhan Sabha by Independent MLA Hoshyar Singh who pegged the amount of money swindled from people in Kangra and Hamirpur alone to be upwards of Rs 200 crore. In the wake of Singh's assembly speech, a special investigation team was formed to probe into the matter. The exact amount defrauded is yet to be ascertained, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Northern Range, Abhishek Dhullar, who is heading the SIT, told PTI on Monday. The frauds used a combination of misinformation, deception, and threats to maintain control over their scheme and

Andhra court extends remand of ex-CM Naidu till Sept 24 in corruption case

A court here on Friday extended the judicial remand of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu in the case pertaining to AP Skill Development Corporation scam till September 24. Additional Advocate General Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy told PTI that the special court for Anti-Corruption Bureau here extended the former Chief Minister's remand by two days. Meanwhile, the High Court has scheduled the hearing on the FIR quash petition filed by Naidu at 1:30 pm today. Chandrababu Naidu was arrested on September 9, for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation, leading to an alleged loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer. He is currently lodged in the Rajamahendravaram central prison.

CBI court grants bail to four accused in Delhi excise policy case

The CBI has filed a supplementary charge sheet against five accused, including these four. Former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia was physically produced for the hearing of the case

Court rejects Ashok Gehlot's acquittal plea in defamation case by Shekhawat

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against the chief minister for allegedly claiming Shakawat was involved in the Sanjeevani scam

HC reserves orders on Naidu's plea seeking quashing of FIR in scam case

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday reserved orders on a petition filed by former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu seeking quashing of an FIR filed against him by the police in the Skill Development Corporation scam case. The court heard the arguments from the legal counsels of Naidu and the AP Crime Investigation Department. Senior counsels Harish Salve and Siddarth Luthra representing Naidu argued that the CID did not obtain prior permission from the Governor as it is a mandatory requirement for police to seek prior approval for conducting any inquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant. Mukul Rohatgi, on behalf of the CID, argued that Section 17(A) of CrPC is not applicable to the TDP supremo and informed the court that an intensive investigation is required in the case further. He also said there was an embezzlement of government funds which should be taken up seriously. Chandrababu Naidu was arrested on September 9, in .

Proper procedures followed while arresting Naidu in fraud case: Andhra CID

Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department chief N Sanjay on Sunday said proper procedures were followed while arresting former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the Rs 371-crore alleged fraud case and rejected allegations by the TDP chief's son Nara Lokesh that its action was in violation of laws. Sanjay, who briefed media along with Additional Advocate General P Sudhakar Reddy, said the agency was under "pressure" to clarify the facts related to the Skill Development Corporation scam that occurred in 2015-16 in Andhra Pradesh as several TDP leaders were spreading "misformation." Naidu is currently in judicial remand for his alleged role in this scam and has filed two petitions in the High Court which is scheduled to hear the matter on September 19. "When accused go about misleading and misforming, it's CID's responsibility to put forward their option to clarify. ... Several political leaders are going around giving their version and there is so much mudslinging against the

Chandrababu Naidu is prime conspirator in APSD scam: Andhra CID ADG

Naidu in his capacity influenced and orchestrated and mooted the whole idea and this was also figured by CID and ED as proceeds of crime, he said

CM Jagan lashes out at Naidu over Andhra Skill Development Corp scam

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday lambasted TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, accusing him of being the 'chief architect' of the multi-crore AP Skill Development Corporation scam. The CM also attacked select media houses for 'backing' the former CM despite his alleged involvement in several irregularities over the past decades. Not just state government agencies but also the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested those involved in this fake agreement (skill development case).. the person who orchestrated this scam is Chandrababu Naidu, said Reddy, addressing a public meeting in Nidadavolu in East Godavari. It has been established that Naidu had channeled the scam amount through shell companies, ED found how it was routed and the Income Tax department served notices, he added. Naidu is currently lodged in a jail in Rajamahendravaram after being remanded in judicial custody for 14 days by a court for his alleged involvement in the scam. The CM also reca