V Ravi Prakash, former chief executive officer of popular Telugu television channel TV9, who is presently facing several cases for allegedly indulging in cheating, forgery and siphoning of money from the Associated Broadcasting Company Ltd, the parent organisation of TV9, is said to be virtually in deep trouble following exposure of another scandal.
According to reports, Ravi Prakash and his associates have been facing allegations of siphoning of huge money collected from people in the name of Sanjeevani Hospitals set up at Kuchipudi in Krishna district.
Officials of the Krishna district medical and health department are presently investigating into what is believed to be a big scam.
There are allegations that Ravi Prakash had collected huge donations in the name of funding heart operations of poor children under the banner of “TV9 Little Hearts” 10 years ago.
Subsequently, he and his associates mobilised fresh funds in the name of Sanjeevani Hospitals at Kuchipudi.
Several people have reportedly complained to the authorities that Ravi Prakash and his partner Kuchibhotla Anand had collected huge donations from the people on the streets of Kuchipudi.
They had promised to provide free healthcare to the doorsteps of the people who were struggling to travel to Vijayawada or Machilipatnam to take treatment for various ailments.
They also promised to provide lifetime free treatment by a specialist doctor from the US for those who donated more than Rs 1 lakh to the Ravi Prakash Sanjeevani Hospitals at Kuchipudi.
Inquiry by the officials revealed that Ravi Prakash and Anand had collected several lakhs of rupees from donors in this fashion, promising them that their donations would get income tax exemption under Section 18 C.
There was a report recently that one of the donors from Kuchipudi who had suffered heart attack could not get timely treatment at Ravi Prakash Sanjeevani Hospitals due to non-availability of a specialist doctor.
His family members told the investigating officials that he died recently due to lack of treatment at the hospital. They submitted all the documentary evidences including the bank transactions to the authorities.
Now, no specialist doctors, leave alone from the US, are available in Ravi Prakash Sanjeevani Hospitals even for those who had donated lakhs of rupees. They are now shocked to know that they were taken for a royal ride by Ravi Prakash and his associates.
Following a series of cases against Ravi Prakash in the recent past, there have been apprehensions among the donors and the common people as to whether he had siphoned off the funds collected for Sanjeevani Hospitals. Even the hospital staff is now worried over their fate.
The investigations have also revealed that the promise made by Ravi Prakash to name the hospital wards and operation theatres in the name of donors was also not fulfilled.
After the arrest of Ravi Prakash, Kuchibhotla Anand held a press conference and announced the names of donors through a power point presentation, but he did not give the list of donors to the media.
Sources said the Andhra Pradesh government is taking a serious look at these allegations against Sanjeevani Hospitals and has ordered an investigation into it.
“If the allegations are proved, the noose around Ravi Prakash would be tightened,” sources added.
