Eight scams in 12 years in Karnataka, but no lessons learnt

Apart from the Valmiki ST Development Corporation case, Karnataka has seen at least seven other similar ‘scams’ involving Rs 230 crore of taxpayers’ money since 2012, making it clear that the governments did little to ensure tighter fiscal controls.

Bengaluru: While the row over the embezzlement case at the Valmiki ST Development Corporation is raging, Karnataka has seen at least seven other similar ‘scams’ involving Rs 230 crore of taxpayers’ money since 2012, making it clear that the governments did little to ensure tighter fiscal controls.

The earliest case dates back to September 2012 when Rs 12 crore was lost in an illegal transaction involving the KIADB and Punjab National Bank. The case has been handed over to the CBI, according to details accessed by DH.

In May 2013, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board saw fraudulent transfer of Rs 10 crore involving the erstwhile State Bank of Mysore. This case, initially probed by the CID, was transferred to the CBI.

A case that bears some resemblance to the Valmiki Corporation scam was reported in June 2018, wherein JG Padmanabha, the suspended ST Development Corporation managing director, was cleared of corruption charges in connection with transferring Rs 4.95 crore to private persons at the Ambedkar Development Corporation. This involved Canara Bank. Padmanabha was kept under suspension, before being subsequently reinstated in November 2022, after a departmental inquiry cleared him.

The CID has filed three charge-sheets in connection with a case reported in April 2019, which involved the transfer of Rs 22.43 crore belonging to the Karnataka State Handicraft Development Corporation from Vijaya Bank to the State Bank of India.

Around four-and-a-half years ago, in January 2020, a sum of Rs 47.16 crore from the Karnataka State Agricultural Marketing Board was illegally transferred at Syndicate Bank. However, the bank recovered the money.

Between 2021 and 2022, the Devaraj Urs Truck Terminal was rocked by a Rs 47 crore-scam, in connection with which the CID arrested former BJP MLC D S Veeraiah.

In February 2022, Rs 87 crore was illegally sent to various Yes Bank accounts in Yadgir. The money belonged to the Karnataka Bhovi Development Corporation, which is currently being probed by the CID.

During the ongoing session of the legislature, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah admitted in the Legislative Assembly that Rs 89.6 crore had been embezzled at the Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation. Bellary MLA B Nagendra, who resigned as the ST Welfare Minister, is under the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) arrest.