Arrested Goa cricket officials suspended from BCCI roles
The BCCI has suspended Goa Cricket Association president Chetan Desai from his role as chairman of the board's marketing committee, while GCA secretary Vinod Phadke has been suspended from the information and technology committee
ESPNcricinfo staff
18-Jun-2016
Goa Cricket Association (GCA) president Chetan Desai has been suspended from his role as chairman of the BCCI's marketing committee, while GCA secretary Vinod Phadke has been suspended from the board's information and technology committee. The BCCI's action came after Desai, Phadke and GCA treasurer Akbar Mulla were arrested by police earlier this week for alleged fraud.
The BCCI also issued show-cause notices to Phadke and Desai asking why action should not be taken against them. They were given 15 days to respond.
The Goa Police had registered a case against the three accused under sections 408, 409 (criminal breach of trust), 419 (cheating by impersonation), 463, 464, 468 (forged documents), 471 (fraud), 420 (cheating) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. A first information report (FIR) had been filed against the trio by the economic offences wing of the police on June 4.
Desai, Phadke and Mulla had allegedly encashed a TV subsidy from the BCCI worth INR 2.87 crore, from a cheque sent by the Indian board on October 23, 2006; the cheque was valid for six months. At the time, Desai was the GCA secretary, Phadke the treasurer and Dayanand Narvekar the president.
According to Shekhar Salkar, the acting president of the Goa Cricket Association between November 2014 and June 2015, a fake account in the name of GCA had been opened in the Panjim branch of Development Credit Bank on April 10, 2007.
"Phadke pretended to be the president, Desai was the secretary and Mulla as treasurer. The cheque was realised on April 13, 2007. The three accused then started to withdraw amounts and emptied the account by March 29, 2008. So it did not reflect in the balance sheet."
The FIR also mentioned that Desai, Phadke and Mulla withdrew INR 26 lakh from Federal Bank account of the GCA on the pretext of giving it to a company called HAKO enterprise which, it was later found, had not received any funds.
Phadke had been India's team manager for the ODI series against South Africa in 2015, and at the Under-19 World Cup in 2012 as well.