The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has upped the ante in its investigation into the Kakinada Port Scam, as it has zeroed in on the source of Rs. 494 crore paid by Arrow Infra Private Limited, a subsidiary of Aurobindo Company, to Kakinada Infrastructure Holdings Private Limited (KIHL). The payment was made during the YSRCP regime and was for forcibly acquiring shares worth Rs. 3,600 crore in Kakinada Sea Ports Limited (KSPL) and Kakinada SEZ (KSEZ) from Karnati Venkateswara Rao (KV Rao).
ED probing how Arrow Infra has collected and routed the Rs. 494 cr: The market valuation of 41.12% KSPL shares is around Rs 2,500 cr, but this lot was bought at much cheaper rates. Under the corporate deposit arrangement, Arrow Infra has made the payment of Rs. 100 crore on July 10, 2020 and Rs. 394 crore on February 9, 2021. ED has already established some crucial details regarding Arrow Infra's transactions and its nexus with money laundering, hence, it is believed that it will serve notices to the company directors soon.
Representatives of the audit firm PKF Sridhar & Santhanam LLP have also been grilled for being allegedly involved in the scam. The ED has questioned the basis on which the initial report was prepared by the audit firm claiming that KSPL evaded Rs. 965 crore payments to the state government. Significantly, the subsequent report reduced it drastically to Rs. 9.03 crore. The investigators are probing all angles of probable fabrication of documents, pressures from the outside and motives behind the contradictory reports.
Given the proofs, the ED is most likely to dig deep into all the aspects of the scam. Interrogation of directors in Arrow Infra and analysis of further financial transactions may reveal the identity of all participants in the scam and their motivation.
