The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against senior Chennai Port Trust officials on charges of colluding with private firms in the auction of iron ore and causing a loss to the tune of ₹7.10 crore.
Based on a complaint lodged by the Chief Vigilance Officer, Chennai Port Trust, the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch registered a case on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy against Assistant Materials Manager K.S. Nandakumar, Senior Deputy Materials Manager K. Kumar, Materials Manager A. Ayyasamy, M.C. Jain Associates, SYR Infrastructure, Eastern Bulk Trading and Shipping (P) Ltd and others.
The allegation is that in 2016-17, the accused officials conspired with the private firms and value of iron ore was assessed at ₹400 per metric tonne, while the market price of the same quality was ₹1,218 per tonne.
The total value of 1,32,300 metric tonne of iron ore was fixed at ₹5.29 crore.
The iron ore was sole through e-auction which caused a loss of ₹7.10 crore to the organisation. The agency also involved provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against the accused.
