Andhra liquor scam: Chargesheet names Jagan as kickback recipient

A chargesheet filed by Andhra Pradesh police in connection with the Rs 3,500 crore alleged liquor scam in a local court has mentioned former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as one of the recipients of the total kickbacks averaging Rs 50-60 crore per month.
The 305-page chargesheet filed on Saturday, however, stopped short of naming Jagan as accused.
The court is yet to take the cognizance of the chargesheet.
“The collected amounts were eventually handed over to Kesireddy Rajasekhar Reddy(A-1). Rajasekhar Reddy would then pass the money to Vijay Sai Reddy (A-5), Mithun Reddy (A-4), Balaji (A-33) who would transfer it to former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. On an average, Rs 50-60 crore was collected every month (during the 2019-24 YSRCP regime),” the charge sheet said adding that it was corroborated by a witness.
The chargesheet alleged that Rajasekhar Reddy, “the mastermind and co-conspirator” behind the entire Rs 3,500 crore liquor scam, had influenced excise policy manipulation besides being instrumental in replacing automated OFS (order for supply) with manual process; to have planted loyalists in APSBCL (Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Limited). He allegedly created shell distilleries and handed over “kickbacks” to Jagan through another accused Balaji Govindappa, the chargesheet further alleged.
Rajasekhar Reddy routed as much as Rs 250-Rs 300 crore cash for elections on behalf of YSRCP Party in tandem with accused Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy (former MLA) and was also responsible for laundering funds through over 30 shell firms. The amount was invested to acquire land, gold, luxury assets in Dubai and Africa.
The police alleged that the key accused brought out the new liquor policy during the previous YSRCP regime with an underlying intent of having full control over the supply and sale of liquor, thereby to achieve their broader goal of earning commissions/kickbacks between 2019 till 2024.
“The accused planned the change in excise policy and also its modalities, to ensure that they would receive large kickbacks, majority portion of such kickbacks was received in cash, gold bullion etc,” the charge sheet said. During investigation it was revealed that the accused deliberately withheld OFS approvals to brands/distilleries who did not yield to the kickback demands. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged liquor scam on Saturday arrested YSRCP Lok Sabha member PV Midhun Reddy in the case after grilling him for several hours.
In May, the Enforcement Directorate also filed a money laundering case to investigate the alleged liquor scam. The federal probe agency has filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe alleged irregularities in the sale of liquor in the state.
From the investigation done so far, it is revealed that during the second half of 2019, a meeting of the owners of the distilleries was held by Sajjala Sridhar Reddy (A- 6) at Hotel Park Hyatt, Hyderabad, the charge sheet said. The distilleries were told to co-operate with the orchestrated sale of liquor of raising planned indents and issuing manual OFS to select suppliers in AP, it added.
“During the meeting, the owners were intimidated that if they do not accede to their proposals and no orders will be issued to them. Such intimidation for kickbacks by threatening them with no issuances of OFS and thereby receiving kickbacks amounts to extortion,” the chargesheet alleged.
Under the threat of loss of business, several distilleries agreed to pay kickbacks at the rate of 12 per cent. Soon, the percentage was increased to 20 per cent of the base price, it further alleged.
A string of YSRCP leaders condemned the arrest of Midhun Reddy, calling it a clear case of ‘political vendetta’ by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
In a YSRCP press release, former ministers Botcha Satyanarayana, Perni Venkatramaiah (Nani), Ambati Rambabu, Merugu Nagarjuna, and party general secretary G Srikanth Reddy had expressed serious concerns over the alleged misuse of power to target opposition leaders.