HCA IN MEGA SCANDAL
Hyderabad cricket body is heading for big trouble as Deloitte audit report opens a large can of worms
The Hyderabad Cricket Association finds itself in acute embarrassment after the BCCI-commissioned Deloitte audit, that conducted a review of the state body (till March 31, 2015), accused it of widespread mismanagement of funds.
The report, a copy of which is in this paper’s possession, reveals massive financial irregularities in the HCA. The can of worms is bound to cause more discomfort to the HCA as well as its parent body, BCCI, when the Supreme Court reconvenes on the Lodha report hearing on December 5.
According to the report, the anti-corruption bureau has raised various allegations covering financial irregularities amounting to `87.91 crore. From purchasing gold coins to distributing them to 22 executive committee members, to taking unsecured temporary loans from unknown individuals, forged cheques, Income Tax authorities attaching land for non-payment of taxes, irregularities between actuals and budgeted amount, and spending `24.3 crore on constructing a canopy at Uppal Stadium are some of the other discrepancies highlighted in the report.
“We were informed that the ACB team has raised various allegations covering financial irregularities amounting to `87.91 crore, non-production of records in respect of various items amounting to `17.65 crore, procedural irregularities in respect of various items amounting to `9.39 crore and other irregularities covering the period 2003-04 to 2010-11,” says the report.
Arshad Ayub (president), DS Chalapathi (former secretary), MV Sridhar (former secretary), S. Venkateshwaran (former joint secretary), Naresh Sharma (former treasurer), John Manoj (secretary), R. Devraj (Treasurer), G. Vinod (former president) were issued notices by the ACB in February 2016 for alleged misappropriation of funds in connection with the construction of canopy.
“We understand that the total amount capitalised in the books was `20.41 crore as against revised agreed value of `19.75 crore (work order of `21 crore-`1.25 crore for lighting and Sprinkler) and there is a change in scope/terms (such as inclusion of service tax/no insurance etc) as per Tender Schedule and actual work carried out. However, the modifications were not formalised by the way of a supplementary agreement,” the report adds.
The association also faces charges of electricity theft. “An amount of `1.64 crore has been provisionally assessed and a criminal case on account of theft of energy registered against HCA and a demand was received for compounding fees of `0.39 crore.”
The review of travel invoices revealed that two different vendors have raised invoices for the same journey.
“On our review of travel invoices on a sample basis, we noted that in case of an Under-19 match held at Mysore, invoices were raised by the two travel vendors for the same journey and both have been paid by HCA,” the report says.