Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was the first to point a finger at the former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu on violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) when the former was the government chief whip in 2008.

Kiran Kumar Reddy raised the issue in the assembly on March 31, 2008 alleging that Chandrababu Naidu collected funds in the US in the name of NTR Trust but diverted them towards India Heritage Foundation. Naidu had refuted the allegations made by Kirankumar reddy.

Kirankumar said that Naidu collected $225,000 in Detroit alone through cheques during his trip to the US but diverted the funds to other trusts. He cited the letters written by NTR Trust CEO Mr Umesh to the donors in the US to substantiate his allegations.

Kirankumar reddy said that in one of the letters written to Mr Venkat Akki, Umesh told him that cheques collected in favour of NTR Trust would not be presented for collection but returned to the donors later. He said Umesh asked Akki to collect separate cheques in favour of India Heritage Foundation.

Pulivendula MLA Y.S. Vijayalakshmi in her PIL petition in the high court also alleged that Chandrababu Naidu resorted to FEMA violation in the collection of foreign funds. Based on that petition, the high court had ordered the CBI, ED and the state police to look into the allegations raised by Vijayamma. (JUBS)