Farooq faces CBI charges for cricket fund fraud
Accused of siphoning off ` 43.69 crore
The CBI on Monday filed a chargesheet against former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah and three others for allegedly misappropriating over ` 43 crore out of ` 112 crore grants given by the Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI) to the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association ( JKCA) between 2002 and 2011.
In its chargesheet filed in a special court here, the central probe agency alleged that Mr Abdullah, as the association president at that time, had connived with the treasurer of the JKCA and others for misappropriation of funds.
The CBI on Monday filed a chargesheet against former chief minister Farooq Abdullah and three others for allegedly misappropriating over ` 43 crore from grants given by the BCCI to the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association ( JKCA) for promoting cricket in the state between 2002 to 2011.
In its chargesheet filed before a special court here, the Central probe agency alleged that Mr Abdullah, as the association president at that time, had connived with the treasurer of JKCA and others for undue siphoning off and misappropriation of funds. The CBI has charged Mr Abdullah and three others — the then JKCA general secretary Md Saleem Khan and the then treasurer Ahsan Ahmad Mirza and J& K Bank executive Bashir Ahmad Misgar — under Ranbir Penal Code provisions related to criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.
“It was alleged that the BCCI had given ` 112 crore ( approx) to JKCA from the year 2002 to 2011 as grant for the promotion of game of cricket in the State, out of which ` 43.69 crore ( approx) was siphoned off and misappropriated by the accused persons,” the CBI said in a statement.
The CBI had taken over the case from the state police in 2015 on orders of a division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir high court. The bench, comprising the then Chief Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Bansi Lal Bhat, had pronounced the order on September 3, 2015 on a PIL filed by two cricketers — Majid Yaqoob Dar and Nissar Ahmad Khan — into the alleged scam.
At the time of filing of the chargesheet on Monday, some of the accused were present in the court. Mr Abdullah was is in London for past few weeks. The CBI had sent summons to all the accused to remain present in the court.
According to the chargesheet, huge amounts of money were transferred from the bank accounts of the JKCA into those of its office- bearers and other unconnected individuals.