The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Telangana Police on Monday filed a chargesheet in the special court for cases related to alleged misappropriation of funds related to the 2023 Formula E race held in Hyderabad, people familiar with the matter said.
According to the chargesheet, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and former minister KT Rama Rao has been named as the prime accused along with senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar, former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) chief engineer BLN Reddy, sports consultant Kiran Malleswar Rao and UK-based Formula E Operations (FEO) as other accused.
“ACB has completed the investigation and filed its chargesheet in the Formula E racing case. It is up to the ACB court to go through the chargesheet and conduct a thorough trial,” a senior police official familiar with the matter said.
On December 19, 2024, ACB registered an FIR under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with Section 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), for the alleged financial irregularities of $54.88 crore in conducting the Formula E race in Hyderabad.
The FIR, seen by HT, said that during the previous BRS government, a tripartite agreement was signed on October 25, 2022, between Formula E Operations (UK), Ace Nxt Gen (a subsidiary of Greenko Group) and the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD), to conduct Formula E races for seasons 9, 10, 11 and 12 in Hyderabad.
Under the agreement, the state government will construct the track for the event and provide other civic amenities. The ninth season of Formula E racing took place on 11 February 2023.
Meanwhile, sponsor Ace Nxt Gen has backed out of running the Season 10 race event due to some disagreements with FEO. According to the agreement, part of the fee payment to the FEO is delayed by May 2023.
After discussions between FEO representatives and MAUD authorities on 27 September 2023, it was decided to make HMDA the promoter and host of the event and pay the fees.
According to discussions with the FEO, the HMDA was supposed to be issued $160 Crores, including A $Paid Rs 110 crore to FEO. “The file was signed by KTR, who was the then MAUD minister,” the FIR said.
It stated that although external transfers were made, no official approvals were obtained from the relevant regulatory authorities before transferring the huge amounts. Foreign remittances resulted in an additional tax burden of $8.06 crore to HMDA.
HMDA has also issued $1.10 crore to the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India for FIA registration, inter-state championship calendar fees and permit fees. “The total amount paid by HMDA so far has been $“Rs 54.88 crore from its general funds,” the FIR said.
As per rules, HMDA must obtain administrative approval from the state government for any expenditure in excess $10 Crores.
The government grants this penalty in coordination with the Ministry of Finance. “In this case, no such procedure was followed,” the FIR said.
ACB authorities noted that the payments to FEO were made long before the new agreement was signed with the government as the promoter and host on October 30.
Under this new agreement, the state government took responsibility not only for paying sponsor fees $90 crore but also the burden of providing civil and logistical support in the form of setting the route for the event etc. “The new agreement with FEO was signed while the MCC was in force and HMDA did not obtain prior approval from the Election Commission of India to make the payments within the relevant period,” the FIR said.
