The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday raided 16 places in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in connection with the alleged diversion of funds belonging to the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited (KMVSTDCL) and said that the money was routed to friends and relatives of former Karnataka minister L Nagendra.
“During the investigation, further instances of diversion of government funds belonging to the Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department and the Karnataka German Technical Training Institute (KGTTI) have been established,” the central agency said, adding that the ST Welfare Department falls under the administrative control of the Scheduled Tribe Welfare Ministry, which was under Nagendra at the time.
“Investigation revealed that Rs 2.17 crores of ST Welfare Department funds were transferred from the account maintained with Bank of Baroda, Siddaiah Road Branch, Bengaluru, through intermediary firms such as M/s SKR Infrastructure and M/s Golden Establishment, into the account of M/s Dhanalaxmi Enterprises belonging to Nekkanti Nagaraj, a close associate of B Nagendra,” the CBI said.
“Out of these funds, approximately Rs 1.20 crores were further routed into the accounts of the associates and relatives of Nagendra, including his sister, brother-in-law, and personal assistant,” it added.
The CBI further said that Rs 64 lakh belonging to KGTTI was diverted from its account at Canara Bank’s Wilson Garden (Hombegowdanagar) branch in Bengaluru to M/s Sadguru Education Trust and M/s Sadguru Solutions, thereafter to M/s Skillpoint Training, and ultimately to entities such as M/s Style Machine, before reaching N Ravikumar, Nagaraj’s brother, and N Yashwanth Chowdhry, Nagaraj’s nephew.
The money laundering aspect of the case is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate. In the last week of August, the ED attached immovable properties in the form of land and flats worth Rs 4.45 crore belonging to Nagaraj, Chandra Mohan, Golapalli Kishore Reddy, Etakeri Satyanarayana, and movable property in the form of bank accounts to the extent of Rs 50 lakh in First Finance Credit Cooperative Bank Limited.
Last year, the ED had arrested Nagendra for allegedly misappropriating the corporation’s funds.
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According to the CBI, Rs 84.63 crore of the corporation was misappropriated through illegal transfers or withdrawals between February 21 and May 6, 2024. The BJP in Karnataka has alleged that the siphoned money was used for the Lok Sabha elections by the Congress.
While the ED and CBI have continued their probes, in November last year, sacked BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil approached the Karnataka High Court seeking that directions be issued to the CBI to file a final report and submit interim status reports. The CBI has filed four status reports before the Karnataka High Court, which is monitoring the probe.