Mouli Mareedu Hyderabad

TheCentral Bureau of Investigation registered criminal cases against multiple pharmaceutical firms, their management representatives, and Central Government Health Scheme employees for allegedly accepting bribes to procure medicines at inflated rates.

Cases were booked against Lorven Pharma and Surgicals, its proprietor, representative Madupaduga Ramanaiah, assistant manager E Venu Gopal, New SS Medical and General Stores, its representative T Chiranjeevi, Telukupalli Bharani, former Bengaluru CGHS employee M Saravanan, former Kothapet CGHS senior pharmacist T YLN Murthy, Secunderabad CGHS senior health administrator Ponnala Mahesh, and former CGHS pharmacist S Krishna Murthy.

The Anti-Corruption Branch of the investigating agency revealed that CGHS authorities issued procurement orders for various essential medicines, including Antioxidants, Sacubitril 24 mg with Valsartan 26 mg, Sitagliptin 50 mg, and Metformin 500 mg. Officials T YLN Murthy and S Krishna Murthy were tasked with monitoring medicine supplies from external vendors. However, investigating officers established that the accused government personnel colluded with private pharmaceutical management and sales representatives by accepting bribes, issuing supply quotations, and procuring drugs at maximum government-fixed rates while clearing pending bills without required physical verification.

Simultaneously, the agency uncovered suspicious financial transactions involving substantial monetary transfers between public servants and private pharmaceutical staff. Preliminary audit findings highlighted widespread irregularities during official procurement from private suppliers, confirming that selected medical shops acted as financial intermediaries to facilitate illicit payments between pharmaceutical executives and government employees. Coordinated investigations remain underway to uncover the complete extent of the bribery network and identify additional officials involved in the medical procurement scam.