The position of Minister for Forests C.P. Yogeshwar appears to be shaky with the Bharatiya Janata Party seeking the views of experts on the findings of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SIFO) of the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The investigation recommended the criminal prosecution of Mr. Yogeshwar for alleged corporate fraud.
The SFIO, which investigated complaints against the controversial Megacity (Bangalore) Developers and Builders Ltd., of which Mr. Yogeshwar is managing director, filed its report on July 30.
The report accused him of indulging in corporate fraud, criminal conspiracy, forgery and cheating. The SFIO found him guilty of forging about 450 sale agreements to falsely show that about Rs. 37 crore was paid to landowners towards purchase of their land for the company's project. It also accused him of swindling Rs. 3.6 crore of the company's money.
According to sources in the BJP, the party's central leaders are seized of the matter and have taken the issue seriously. National-level experts have been asked to give their opinion.
While BJP leaders declined to comment on his continuation as Minister, it appears this may hinge on what the ‘experts' say. Mr. Yogeshwar was inducted into the Ministry on August 11.
Mr. Yogeshwar has been in the dock for quite some time as the Criminal Investigation Department filed a charge sheet against him in March 2010 for allegedly cheating a large number of investors of Rs. 37 crore by promising them sites at a private township developed by his firm during 1995-2006. The matter is pending trial in court and, if convicted, he could be imprisoned for up to three years.
The BJP elevated the actor-turned-politician from Channapatna, who crossed over from the Congress, to a ministerial post hoping to make him the instrument to make inroads into the Janata Dal (S) bastion of Ramanagaram district. He had trounced the Janata Dal (S) candidate by a huge margin in the Channapatna Assembly byelection that he fought on a BJP ticket.
