Former Indian captain Mohammad Azaruddin was grilled by ED for almost eight hours. Two other members of the Hyderabad Cricket Association have also been summoned over a money laundering case.
The investigation is about a money laundering case and financial irregularities in the Hyderabad Cricket Association. The allegation includes mismanagement in the purchase of cricket equipment and other materials related to the sport, with contracts worth over 3.8 cr having been awarded but not completed on time.
ED’s probe is rooted in the various FIRs filed against alleged corruption in HCA by Uppal police impacting several individuals including Congress MLA G Vinod.
Sources reveal that the former HCA President has mismanaged the finances of the HCA in buying cricket equipment, gym supplies and other materials for the Uppal stadium.
Contracts worthy of 3.8 cr were awarded to the bidder, who failed to complete the work on time. The payments were made regardless as a part of a broader criminal conspiracy, with an audit uncovering the misappropriation of HCA funds.
Fraud of Four
Apart from Azaruddin, former HCA secretary R Vijay Anand and former treasurer Surender Agarwal were also named in the FIRs. These individuals have been charged with criminal conspiracy, forgery, cheating and criminal breach of trust.
The companies involved in these deals with HCA Body Drench India Pvt Ltd, Fire Safety Engineers Pvt, Sara Sports and Excellent Enterprises and they are accused of getting involved in doing fraudulent transactions.
This complaint led to a detailed audit of the transactions of the last three years, which revealed some suspicious transactions involving third-party vendors that turned out to be detrimental to the organization. This report revealed a 1.5 crore invoice from Body Drench India, which ceased its operations in 2020.
Fire safety equipment worth 1.8 crore was purchased despite having a lower tender of 54.8 lakhs. Azarudiin have also been accused of favouring Sara Sports for SG Test Cricket balls which led to a loss of 57.07 lakhs for HCA.
Inflated cost for stadium bucket seats from Excellent Enterprises led to a further 43.1 lakh loss with the company charging Rs 2,568 per seat, while another vendor offered the same seats for 130 rs each.
