Lanco Infra faked insurance papers

The Lanco Infratech insurance scam has taken a new turn with The New India Assurance Company Limited denying having issued any insurance policy with a premium of Rs 1.89 crore to the infrastructure major.

Lanco Infratech had submitted a policy numbered 610200/44/08/03/60000027 to the AP Health, Medical Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation and secured reimbursement for Rs 1.89 crore. Lanco Infratech claimed to have taken the policy for the Rs 308-crore IIIT complex that it is building in Basar. Under contract terms, the contractor insures the project and the government reimburses the insurance amount to the company.

This newspaper had reported on August 3 that Lanco Infratech would take insurance for higher amounts, collect the refund from the government and then renegotiate with the insurer for a cheaper policy. During the course of investigation into that report, this newspaper had contacted the Lanco chairman, Mr L Madhusudhan Rao on July 31. The next day, Lanco wrote to the APHMHIDC, informing it of the “refund” of premium of Rs 1.54 lakh by the insurance firm. Subsequently, the company paid the “difference” through cheques to the government.

Now, New India Assurance has denied ever having issued the policy numbered 610200/44/08/03/60000027. This clearly establishes that what Lanco Infratech had submitted to the government was a forged insurance policy document and also a receipt purportedly given by New India Assurance acknowledging the receipt of the premium of Rs 1.89 crore.

According to this receipt, Lanco Infratech paid the amount through cheque no 709890 of HDFC Bank on October 3,2008. “We have not received any cheque for Rs 1.89 crore from Lanco Infratech, nor did we issue any policy,” Mr K. Madhava Rao, senior divisional manager, told this correspondent. The question of refunding Rs 1.54 lakh will not arise because we have not received Rs 1.89 crore in the first place, he said adding that the bank accounts of the insurance company do not have any entry for the said amount. The insurance company also wrote to APHMHIDC stating that it had only issued a policy for Rs 35.61 lakh on February 27, 2009. The policy number is 610200/44/08/03.

Significantly, there is lot of difference in the contents and format between the policy issued by the insurance company and the one submitted by Lanco Infratech to the government. The two-page policy of the insurance company goes into great detailed about various types of damage and the insurance cover taken for each, which is not found in the policy submitted by Lanco Infratech.

Stating that forgery of insurance policy attracts criminal proceedings, the divisional manager said the higher authorities concerned in the company should take a decision on this.