NEW DELHI: The CBI has registered an FIR against Rahul Vijay, a senior manager at the Airport Authority of India (AAI), for allegedly siphoning over ₹232 crore into his personal accounts during his three-year tenure at Dehradun airport, officials said. The alleged fraud came to light during an internal audit, which flagged abnormal asset capitalization in the financial records from 2019-20 to 2022-23.
Following the audit, AAI formed a committee to scrutinize the findings, which revealed a complex web of fictitious accounting entries, asset inflation, and unauthorized fund transfers to Vijay’s accounts. A formal complaint was filed with the CBI on August 18 by Chandrakanth P, senior manager (finance), forming the basis of the FIR, which will be investigated by the agency’s Economic Offences Unit.
The complaint alleges that Vijay manipulated records by creating non-existent capital assets and duplicating legitimate work orders, allowing him to funnel substantial sums into his personal accounts. As the authorized signatory for AAI’s official bank accounts with the State Bank of India, he reportedly created three separate user IDs to facilitate clandestine transfers. Initially testing the system with minor transactions, he allegedly escalated to larger amounts.
According to the complaint, Vijay falsely recorded assets worth around ₹189 crore, which did not exist, to redirect funds to his personal accounts. He also allegedly overpaid himself for legitimate contractor work by inflating the figures.
For instance, on September 29, 2021, Vijay recorded genuine assets worth ₹67.81 crore for electrical work on the New Terminal Building Phase 1. The next day, he allegedly created 17 fictitious assets valued at ₹189 crore by duplicating the original 13 assets worth ₹13.58 crore and adding an extra zero, channeling the money to his accounts. Additionally, fraudulent entries totaling ₹43 crore were reportedly charged under various revenue expenditure heads during the same period.
