Taxmen, ED to step into cases exposed by ACB
Public servants booked by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) under the Prevention of Corruption Act are also likely to be booked under the Prohibition of Benami Properties Act by the income-tax department.
Those caught with disproportionate assets will most likely be grilled by the Enforcement Directorate and I-T too.
This means that an officer who has been raided and booked cannot escape with a single Prevention of Corruption Act case.
During the raid, if any unaccounted money transaction is found, or properties are found to be registered in a private person’s name, the ED and the I-T Special Branch can get in on the act too. This is happening in the two Telugu speaking states.
While the prohibition of Money Laundering Act cases will be booked by the ED, the prohibition of Benami Properties Act cases will be booked by the Income Tax department.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) nabbed Adavalli Srinivasa Reddy, an assistant commissioner of the distilleries wing of the department of prohibition and excise, and unearthed assets disproportionate to his legitimate sources of income. The assets unearthed have a market value of `5.5 crore.
A case was registered and Reddy was arrested and produced before the ACB court.
Hyderabad ACB inspector Nageshwar Rao said, “Extensive searches were conducted at 10 properties – seven in Hyderabad, including an office, and three in his native village in Karimnagar district. In his 20 years of service, with a current salary of `70,000, he acquired properties having a market value of `5.50 crore, 1 kg gold, and other movable assets.
“He illegally collected money in the form of hafta from Indian-made foreign liquor companies, as he was the officer-in-charge of Telangana state,” the inspector said.
Reddy previously worked in the Medchal and Kamareddy district as excise Superintendent before being promoted to the post of assistant commissioner of distilleries. “He amassed money through kickbacks from liquor shops,” the inspector said.
The ACB revealed that the accused had acquired 15 acres of agriculture land, three independent houses, four housing plots, and five-storey building that was under construction.