The State government has placed under suspension two officials of the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation (MVSTDC), named in the note of another official who was found dead in connection with the unauthorised transfer of over ₹90 crore.
The corporation has also filed a complaint with the High Grounds police, based on which an FIR has been filed against six senior officials of the Union Bank of India (UBI) [the Chief Executive Officer, the Managing Director, and four Executive Directors], for allegedly participating in a scam involving the unauthorised transfer of money.
On Wednesday, the State government issued suspension orders for the corporation’s Managing Director J.J. Padmanabh and Accounts Officer Parashuram G. Durgannanavar, who have been named in the alleged scam in the note left by Accounts Superintendent Chandrashekharan P., 48, who was found dead at his residence in Shivamogga on Sunday. Besides the two, the officer had also named Suchishitha Raul, Chief Manager of UBI, M.G. Road branch.
New appointment
The State government has appointed K.R. Raj Kumar, Joint Director of the Social Welfare Department, as the in-charge Managing Director of the corporation.
In a related statement, Home Minister G. Parameshwara told presspersons that the CID probe will reveal whether the transfer of funds happened on the oral instructions of Minister for Scheduled Tribes Welfare B. Nagendra or not. This comes after BJP leaders protested seeking the dropping of the Minister from the Cabinet and urging for his name to be added in the FIR.
What complaint said
In the complaint with the High Grounds police late on Tuesday night, the corporation said that total deposits of ₹187.33 crore had been made with the UBI, and it had not been communicated owing to the model code of conduct. When the bank failed to send the new passbook and cheque book, the corporation officials were refused the documents when they visited the branch on May 21, the complaint said, adding that though bank officials claimed documents had been dispatched, it was found to be untrue.
“Further perusal revealed numerous forged letters, forged cheques and forged RTGS requests with fake signatures of officers and accounts officer, forged/ fake board, resolution leading to unauthorised disbursements of funds from the organisation to the bank account. A total of ₹94.73 crore has been disbursed to various accounts based on forged documents,” the complaint said.
The corporation has accused the top management of the bank of having acted illegally after being fully aware of fraudulent acts, and said there was an evident failure in following the banking procedure. The bank has also failed to take precautionary measures while the funds are being held in their bank, and it is “appalling” that the bank without any physical presence of the officers of the corporation created huge loan amounts and overdraft facilities, it added.
Meanwhile, the corporation has said that Mr. Chandrashekharan, who was involved in sending out bank confirmation letters to various banks where the accounts were held, had failed to send out the letters to UBI, M.G. Road branch, every month to ascertain the monthly balance.
According to Mr. Nagendra, so far the corporation has got back ₹28 crore of the unauthorised transactions while it is expecting to receive the rest ₹60 crore. Acknowledging the scam, the Minister said that of ₹187 crore meant for various programmes from 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, ₹88 crore had been transferred to an unofficial account in UBI.
Wife demands justice
Kavitha, wife of Mr. Chandrashekharan, has demanded justice for her husband’s death. “He ended his life unable to handle the pressure at the office. He was honest and never engaged in any corrupt practice,” Ms. Kavitha told the media at her residence in Shivamogga.
BJP seeks probe by Central agency
Taking exception to the FIR on alleged irregularities in the Maharishi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation case not mentioning Minister B. Nagendra’s name, the BJP’s senior Dalit leader Govind M. Karjol on Wednesday demanded that the case be handed over to a Central agency for a “fair investigation”.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Mr. Karjol wondered how the FIR could miss the name of the Minister despite the death note of corporation employee Chandrashekaran P. stating that he had transferred corporation funds to a non-official account on the “oral instructions” of the Minister. He also demanded that Mr. Nagendra should resign to ensure that the inquiry takes place in a fair manner.
Pointing out that the corporation’s bank account would be a joint one in the name of MD and accounts officer, he wondered how could money be transferred illegally four times in March and May without the joint consent of account holders.
