SRINAGAR: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against a senior manager of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for allegedly embezzling over Rs 232 crore by diverting funds into his personal accounts during his posting at Dehradun airport, officials said, according to multiple media reports.
According to the complaint, Rahul Vijay, Senior Manager (Finance and Accounts), is accused of siphoning off funds through fictitious accounting entries and inflation of assets between 2019–20 and 2022–23. The alleged fraud was uncovered during an internal audit, which flagged abnormal capitalisation of assets, reports NDTV.
A verification committee set up by the AAI reportedly confirmed irregularities including duplication of work orders, creation of non-existent capital assets, and unauthorised transfers. The complaint, lodged by AAI Senior Manager (Finance) Chandrakanth P on 18 August, became the basis for the FIR, now being investigated by the CBI’s Economic Offences Unit.
Investigators allege Vijay, an authorised signatory of AAI’s bank accounts with the State Bank of India, created three user IDs to facilitate clandestine fund transfers. He is accused of initially testing the system with smaller amounts before escalating to transactions worth hundreds of crores.
In one instance, on 29 September 2021, he allegedly recorded genuine assets of Rs 67.81 crore for New Terminal Building Phase I electrical work. The following day, he purportedly duplicated the entries, adding an extra zero to inflate the figures to Rs 189 crore, which was then transferred into his personal account.
The complaint also alleges fraudulent entries worth Rs 43 crore were charged under various revenue expenditure heads during the same period. Funds were also routed to an AAI contractor, with inflated amounts subsequently transferred to Vijay’s own account, officials said.
