Hyderabad: The Telangana CID has concluded the investigation in the Bodhan scam wherein the Shivraj gang embezzled a whopping Rs 280 crore between 2012 and 17. The CID registered the case in 2017 on directions by the government. Although it was confirmed that the gang in connivance with government officials had looted government money from the treasury, the extent of the loss to the exchequer remained a mystery.
Initially, it was assumed that the scam could be up to Rs 500 crore. However, the CID, which concluded the forensic investigation into the case, put the scam at Rs 280 crore. As per the CID, the arrested accused Shivraj in connivance with the staff of the Commercial Taxes Department, embezzled the tax money.
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Virtually all the taxes collected across the state are deposited in a single account, which made it difficult for the CID officials to separate the taxes collected from the Bodhan office. In order to determine the extent of tax evasion, the CID officials conducted forensic auditing of the Commercial Tax Department server. It was concluded that a total of Rs 280 crore was looted in five years at the rate of Rs 56 crore per year.
It means that on average, more than Rs 15 lakhs were looted per day. The CID officials said the evidence can lead to punishment of the accused. It is believed that the court will consider the materials as solid evidence. Officials hope to complete the investigation on the remaining issues and file charge sheets as soon as possible.
