New Delhi, Nov 4 (UNI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Hyderabad Zonal Office, today announced that it has filed a chargesheet with the Special PMLA Court against Prudvi Solar Power Projects Pvt. Ltd. and its Managing Director, Byrraju Srinivas Raju. The court has taken cognizance of the prosecution complaint.
The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) in Hyderabad under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
According to the CBI’s chargesheet, which was filed after its investigation, Prudvi Solar Power Projects Pvt. Ltd. cheated the State Bank of India (SBI) of Rs 3.81 crore.
The ED’s probe revealed that the company was granted an overdraft facility of Rs 4.5 crore by SBI to install a 5 MW solar plant on land offered as collateral security.
To avail of this facility, Managing Director Byrraju Srinivas Raju allegedly inflated the company’s turnover to Rs 30.5 crore for the financial year 2016-17 with the intention to cheat the bank.
Furthermore, the investigation found that Raju siphoned the loan funds into his personal bank accounts, transferred them to a sister concern (Prudvi Infra), invested in chit funds, and made huge cash withdrawals.
The bank funds were diverted for personal use and unauthorised purposes, and the solar power plant was never installed. The loan account was declared a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) on October 14, 2017, and the bank classified it as fraud on November 26, 2019.
In its Prosecution Complaint, the ED has charged the accused with causing a wrongful loss to SBI, thereby generating and using proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 3.81 crore.
The agency had previously attached immovable properties worth Rs 3.81 crore owned by Byrraju Srinivas Raju.
