Volkswagen scam haunts Botsa after 9 years!

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After a gap of nearly nine years, the controversial Volkswagen scam case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation has begun haunting senior YSR Congress party leader and Andhra Pradesh minister for municipal administration Botsa Satyanarayana.

The CBI special court in Hyderabad on Friday served a notice on Botsa asking him to appear in the court for trial into the 2005 Volkswagen car case. The minister is yet to respond to the notices.

The scandal surfaced in 2005 and landed the then Y S Rajasekhar Reddy government in trouble.

There were allegations that the government had paid Rs 11.67 crore kickbacks to Vasishta Wahan, which was supposed to be a front company of Volkswagen, the German car manufacturer, which planned to set up its unit in Andhra Pradesh.

Later, it was alleged that the Vasishta Wahan was a bogus company allegedly floated by Botsa and his brother Muralikrishna.

Following allegations, YSR shifted Botsa from industries department and ordered a CBI inquiry.

In September 2010, the CBI filed a charge sheet in the Rs11.67-crore Volkswagen scandal in Andhra Pradesh.

In the 150-page chargesheet filed in the XIV additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) court, CBI named seven persons as the accused, including Helmuth Schuster, a former official of the German car maker.

The CBI conducted the investigation in India and abroad and during its probe Rs 5 crore out of the Rs 11.67 crores was recovered.

The CBI also carried out probe in Germany and Switzerland by sending Letter Rogatory and claimed to have collected vital evidence showing the complicity of the accused.

Though, the German car maker, subsequently offered to pay back the sum of Rs 11.67 crore to protect its image, the then chief minister refused to take the money till the CBI probe was completed. Subsequently, the German car maker set up its unit in Maharashtra.

The charge sheet, however, exonerated Botsa who was at the centre of the controversy. But now, his name surfaced again. The reasons for the re-inclusion of his name are not known yet.