ED questions former Indian cricketer Azharuddin in HCA money laundering case

Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday questioned former Indian cricket team captain and Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin in a money laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities in the Hyderabad Cricket Association, official sources said.

The federal agency recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

The 61-year-old former Member of Parliament was first asked to depose before the agency on October 3 but he sought deferment of the notice and asked for a fresh date.

The agency subsequently issued him fresh summons to appear on October 8.

Dressed in a white kurta-pyjama, Azharuddin reached the ED office on Fateh Maidan Road around 11 am. He was accompanied by his legal team.

The probe is related to alleged financial irregularities in the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). The ED had conducted searches in connection with the irregularities in November last year.

Azharuddin's role during his tenure as the HCA president is under the scanner of the agency, the sources had said.

There was no immediate response from the former Indian skipper, who unsuccessfully contested the Telangana Assembly polls held last year.

Following the registration of a case in connection with the alleged irregularities by Telangana Police last year, he had said that the allegations levelled against him were "false" and "motivated" and it was "just a stunt" pulled by his rivals to ruin his reputation.

The money laundering case stems from three FIRs and charge sheets filed by the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with alleged criminal misappropriation of funds of the HCA to the tune of Rs 20 crore.

One such police FIR was registered on the complaint of the HCA Chief Executive Officer Suneel Kante Bose after a forensic audit (interim report) found that certain transactions done on behalf of the HCA with third-party vendors were found to be "not genuine" and that the transactions were carried out in a manner "detrimental" to the interest of the association.

The police charge sheets contain "allegations of serious irregularities in the procurement of DG sets, firefighting systems and canopies for the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium constructed in Uppal, Hyderabad," the ED had earlier in a statement.

According to the charge sheets, despite deadlines, several works were delayed inordinately, leading to escalated costs and budget enhancements and corresponding losses to the HCA.

It was found that the office bearers of the HCA, including its then secretary, president and vice-president and others, in collusion with private parties, "arbitrarily" got various tenders and works allotted to preferred vendors/contractors at higher than market rates without following proper tender processes and in many cases even before the receipt of quotations, the agency had alleged.

Advance payments were made to many contractors but no work was done by them, it added.

ED had raided the premises of former office bearers of the HCA, including former vice president and Indian cricketer Shivlal Yadav, Congress MLA and ex-HCA president Gaddam Vinod, former HCA secretary Arshad Ayub apart from the office of a company called S S Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and the residential premises of its managing director (MD), Satyanarayana.

The ED had said its raids undertaken last year led to the seizure of digital devices, "incriminating" documents and "unaccounted" cash of Rs 10.39 lakh.

One of the observations made in the forensic report was that "Mohammad Azharuddin, the then President of the Association in the 9th Apex Council meeting held on March 3, 2021 had sought to take up discussions regarding firefighting equipment. However, subsequently without assigning any reasons, the tender was not allotted to any of the bidders. Thereafter, the HCA had floated a second tender for the same work." The former cricketer is a Padma Shri and Arjuna Award recipient. He began his political innings with a win from Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad Lok Sabha seat in 2009. He is also a working president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC).