The scam allegedly involved a Senior Manager (Finance & Accounts) at AAI identified as Rahul Vijay, who while at Dehradun Airport, engineered the transfer of massive funds by creating a complex trail of fictitious accounting entries over a period of three years.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a senior manager of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for allegedly diverting more than ₹232 crore of the organisation’s funds into his personal accounts for trading purposes, officials said on Saturday (August 30).
Rahul Vijay, Senior Manager (Finance & Accounts) at AAI, is accused of executing the large-scale fraud during his tenure at Dehradun Airport. According to investigators, he engineered the transfer of funds by creating a complex trail of fictitious accounting entries over a period of three years.
“During the investigation, it has emerged that in the period 2019-20 to 2022-23, the accused, while posted at Dehradun Airport, manipulated electronic records by creating duplicate and fictitious assets and inflating the values of certain assets, including by adding zeros to entries so as to evade routine detection,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.
CBI arrests Senior Manager, Airports Authority of India for embezzlement of Approx. Rs. 232 Crore pic.twitter.com/IGMBPo3i3z
— Central Bureau of Investigation (India) (@CBIHeadquarters) August 30, 2025
Preliminary analysis of bank transactions revealed that the misappropriated funds were subsequently diverted into “trading accounts” controlled by Vijay. The irregularities were first flagged during an internal audit, following which AAI set up a committee to verify the findings. The inquiry uncovered evidence of inflated assets, fabricated accounting records, and unauthorised transfers into Vijay’s personal bank accounts.
A formal complaint was lodged with the CBI on 18 August by AAI Senior Manager (Finance) Chandrakanth P, prompting the registration of a case to be pursued by the agency’s Economic Offences Unit. Searches were later conducted at Vijay’s official and residential premises in Jaipur, leading to the recovery of incriminating documents, including property papers and securities.
Investigators allege that Vijay created non-existent capital assets and duplicated legitimate work orders, enabling him to funnel vast sums of money into his own accounts. As the authorised signatory on AAI’s bank accounts with the State Bank of India, he reportedly generated three separate user IDs for official accounts to mask his activities. He initially conducted small transactions to test the system before moving on to large-scale transfers.
According to the complaint, “He has shown an asset creation of about ₹189 crore in the official records, which never existed… only to get the money transferred to his personal accounts.” One cited instance involved genuine assets worth ₹67.81 crore created on September 29, 2021 for electrical works at the new terminal building. The very next day, Vijay allegedly generated 17 additional fictitious assets totalling ₹189 crore by duplicating 13 original assets valued at ₹13.58 crore, inflating figures with added zeros, and transferring the funds into his own account.
It is further alleged that he also diverted ₹43 crore through fraudulent entries recorded as revenue expenditure under various heads during the same period.
The CBI is continuing its probe into the multi-crore embezzlement case.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)