CBI calls TDP leader YS Chowdary for questioning in bank fraud case

New Delhi: The CBI has called former Union minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader YS Chowdary for questioning in a bank fraud case, officials said on Thursday.

The Rajya Sabha MP, considered close to Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, has been asked to appear on Friday at the agency’s Bengaluru office, they said.

The CBI had registered a case against electrical equipment manufacturer Best and Crompton Engineering Projects Limited for allegedly cheating Andhra Bank to the tune of Rs 71 crore in 2017.

In its FIR against the Chennai-based company and its five directors, including managing director Kakulamarri Srinivas Kalyan Rao, the CBI has slapped charges under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery among others.

In November last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had seized six high-end cars, including Ferrari, Range Rover and Mercedes-Benz, reportedly belonging to the MP and summoned him for questioning in connection with an alleged Rs 5,700 crore bank loan fraud case.

The agency had said the high-end cars seized were registered in the name of dummy companies.

Chowdary was a Minister of State (MoS) in the Union cabinet before Naidu quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance last year over the Centre’s refusal to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh.