Rajus diverted charity funds?

The Emergency Management and Research Institute, a society run by the Raju brothers of scam-hit Satyam Computers, diverted money provided by the government for ambulance services, reports HT Political Bureau.

The Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), a society run by the Raju brothers of scam-hit Satyam Computers, diverted money provided by the government for ambulance services. With Ramalinga Raju in jail, EMRI is finding it difficult to organise money for running the services, a corporate source, who did not want to be identified, said.

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EMRI, started and publicised as a charity, entered into partnerships with 12 state governments without any competition. The Supreme Court is now scrutinizing the non-competitive manner in which the contracts were awarded to it.

EMRI charges state governments between Rs 1 and 1.5 lakh per month per ambulance for providing the service free to users.

The EMRI management diverted at least Rs 17 crore from at least seven states to build its headquarters in Secunderabad, and related activities, sources said. The operational units in states are running out of funds. Tamil Nadu has asked EMRI to operate a separate account. “When Raju was around, money was easy. But now even regular banks are skeptical and the EMRI account was frozen thrice over the last fortnight,” the source said. EMRI CEO Venkat Changavalli, however, denied that funds were diverted. “The money is where it should be. And there is no problem with our services,” he said. Two senior Satyam executives, Dr Anil Jampala and Y.N. S Kishore, handle the administration of EMRI besides the CEO.