Bengaluru: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the multi-crore loan scam in the Karnataka Bhovi Development Corporation, has identified 10 primary bank accounts that received the embezzled money. Some of these accounts belong to private companies, according to the CID.
The agency, which began investigating the case in 2023, carried out nine raids in Kalaburagi, Bengaluru and Doddaballapur last week and formed a dedicated team to undertake the probe. The development comes amid the Congress government’s pledge to investigate scams during the previous BJP regime.
The scam occurred in 2021–22. It involved bureaucrats and middlemen swindling large shares of loans under a job scheme for Bhovi community members. While the corporation was to lend up to Rs 10 lakh, no beneficiary received more than Rs 30,000. The scam came to light in 2022 when banks asked beneficiaries to repay the original amount.
Middlemen, suspected to be in collusion with corporation officials, collected Aadhaar, PAN and other documents from beneficiaries, promising them loans up to Rs 10 lakh. They got the applicants’ signatures on blank papers and two signed blank cheques.
The touts initially asked for a “nominal” commission of Rs 25,000 for each loan. But a few months later, they paid the beneficiaries only Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000, claiming only Rs 50,000–60,000 was sanctioned as loans.
The beneficiaries learnt about the cheating only after bank officials asked for repayment of the original amount.
Three FIRs have been filed: One each in Siddapura, Doddaballapur and Kalagi (Kalaburagi) police stations.
The Kalagi case was transferred to the CID in February 2023, the Siddapur case in June 2023 and the Doddaballapur case in August 2023. There are a total of 13 suspects.
There are at least 20 victims in the Doddaballapur case, over 46 in the Siddapur case and 10 in the Kalagi case.
“It’s a very serious case and took us a lot of time to understand. The scam was carried out in multiple layers and involves dozens of people,” a senior police officer involved in the investigation told DH.
The officer added that they have seized “incriminating” documents and files connected to the case.
A top CID official said there were more than 120 victims. “Considering the gravity and extent of this scam, we need a mini-SIT to probe it,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The CID is scrutinising thousands of pages of statements pertaining to 10 primary bank accounts that received the embezzled money. According to the CID, money was transferred in small amounts to multiple accounts.
Asked whether the CID had identified the final recipients of the embezzled money, the first officer quipped, “That’s the interesting part.”