CBI grills DVC bosses over Rs 1 cr fraud
Express News Service Posted: Apr 05, 2009 at 0344 hrs IST

Kolkata: Senior officials of the Damodar Valley Corporation, a major public sector enterprise engaged in power-generation, is under the scanner of the CBI on charges of fraud.

The CBI, which recently raided DVC headquarters in Kolkata and interrogated its top three officers, is investigating an alleged fraud to the tune of Rs 1 crore. The money, meant for the organisers of the 13th National Games held in 2007 in Guwahati, is said to have never reached them. The embezzlement took place when Asim Burman was the chairman of DVC.

“The CBI is investigating the matter. They had come to us and asked for some papers which we have furnished. The matter relates to a grant to the National Games,” said DVC acting CEO Subrata Biswas. “We are investigating the matter,” said a senior CBI officer.

A special team of the CBI’s anti-corruption branch visited the DVC headquarters, DVC Towers near Ultadanga in Kolkata on April 1, and gathered information and collected documents. Later, on April 3, three top officers of DVC were called to the CBI’s Kolkata office at Nizam Palace and interrogated for hours, sources said.

AnCBI officer said it was All India Power Engineers Federation that brought the matter to light through a complaint that says the alleged fraud took place in 2007. The DVC cleared Rs 1 crore as grant for the 13th National Games held in Guwahati from February 9 to February 18, 2007.

DVC sent a cheque (number 049440) of a private bank to the National Games organisers via registered post on March 9, 2007. However, the money did not reach the Games authorities. Instead, it allegedly went to a private company in Kolkata, Celebrity Management Group.

Letters from the Games authorities thanking Burman and acknowledging receipt arrived some days later.

According to the complaint, the letters were forged and were undersigned by A K Joshi, Convenor of National Games Event sponsorship. The complaint stated the signature was also forged.

According to sources, the Association had alerted the DVC authorities about the fraud several times. A vigilance enquiry was ordered by the DVC authorities, but it failed to prove the allegation of fraud and misappropriation of funds.