The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) questioned IAS officer Arvind Kumar for six hours about the ongoing Formula E-race case. This is the third time the former Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) officer has been called in for allegations of financial misconduct in the Formula E-Race deal.
Investigators asked Mr. Kumar about the involvement of former MA&UD minister KT Rama Rao in transferring funds to the Formula E-race company without proper government approval. Sources say Mr. Kumar arrived at the ACB headquarters at 11:40 AM and left around 5:15 PM. The questioning included a 30-minute lunch and two tea breaks. He faced questions about claims made by Principal Secretary M Dana Kishore, especially concerning overseas fund transfers.
The ACB filed a First Information Report (FIR) against KTR on December 19 last year. The FIR also names Aravind Kumar, once Special Chief Secretary to the Government, MA&UD department, and B L N Reddy, the then Chief Engineer of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA).
The complaint states that HMDA made payments over Rs 54.88 crore to Formula-E Operations Limited (FEO) and related parties, avoiding standard financial rules. According to the FIR, Rs 45.7 crore was sent to FEO between September and October 2023, even though FEO had ended its agreement with the Telangana government. This payment included an extra tax charge of Rs 8.06 crore, which HMDA covered.
In October 2022, a tripartite deal between the Telangana government, FEO, and event sponsor Ace Nxt Gen Pvt Ltd originally limited the State’s financial duties. However, the FIR claims disputes between FEO and Ace Nxt Gen Pvt Ltd made the government take on financial responsibility without needed approvals, leading to significant losses for the treasury.
