Addressing the media on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah reiterated that Yeddyurappa had evaded income tax through money laundering to the tune of Rs 339.54 crore, and that the Centre should initiate an inquiry into the matter. He also urged the Income Tax department to pursue the matter.
Siddaramaiah said that from February 2006 (when Yeddyurappa was deputy chief minister) to March 2011, the Chief Minister and his family members floated 11 companies and trusts, the total value of which were Rs 176.79 cr.
“The market value, however, for these properties is Rs 642.23 crore, and the IT evasion through money laundering is Rs 339.54 crore,” he alleged.
Siddaramaiah also said that the IT report detailed that 16 relatives and friends of Yeddyurappa were benami holders in firms namely Besto Infrastructure Bangalore Pvt Ltd, Health Zone Advisors India Pvt Ltd, Elyon Developers Pvt Ltd, Kappa Technologies India Pvt Ltd and Besto Logistics India Pvt Ltd.
The list of 16 names includes that of Yeddyurappa’s personal assistant Siddalingaswamy and his driver Kumshi Manjunath.
The others are Akkamahadevi, Mahabaleshwara, K Manjunath, K Shivappa, V Manjunath, Adilakshmamma, B K Somashekar, B K Radhamani, B Sangamesh Parappa Gadag, B M Karunesh, and B M Jayashankar (Adarsha) Gowramma, B G Channappa, and M Prema (daughter-in-law).
Siddaramaiah said he would furnish the details of the Income Tax report, along with his own findings, to the Finance Ministry shortly.
He also criticised Yeddyurappa for transferring officials from his own office for “spying”. “If this were a transparent government, why transfer the officials?”
He said that since January this year, the Government had not been disbursing the pensions, while the issue of Bhagyalakshmi bonds to beneficiaries had been stopped entirely. He said he would write to Yeddyurappa demanding the release of the arrears of the pension amount immediately and also consider new applications.
Companies floated
The list of 11 companies allegedly floated by Yeddyurappa and his family members including his children and son-in-law.
* Dhavalagiri Property Developers Pvt Limited
* Bhagat Homes Pvt Lim-ited
* Candoor Business Solutions Private Limited
* Sahyadri Healthcare and Diagnostics Pvt Ltd
* Indivar Kutir Pvt Ltd, Kolkata
* Ratna Cements Yadawad Ltd, Belgaum
* SOA Matrix Software Pvt Ltd
* Fluid Power Technologies Pvt Ltd
* Prerana Educational Trust
* Jana Shikshana Samsthe
* Akarsha Properties