Valmiki funds misused to bribe Bellary LS voters with Rs 200 each: ED

NT Correspondent New Delhi/Bengaluru: Over seven lakh people in the Bellary Lok Sabha seat were given Rs 200 each to vote in favour of the Congress candidate during the general elections this year and this money came from the cash siphoned in the alleged Valmiki scam by former Karnataka tribal minister B Nagendra along with his aides, the ED has claimed in its charge sheet. It also charged that the legislator utilised these government funds to "cover" his personal expenses, like booking flights for himself and his associates, payment of electricity bills, vehicle maintenance and paying the monthly salaries of household staff. Nagendra, 53, was granted bail by a special court for people's representatives in Bengaluru on Monday. The federal agency had filed its first charge sheet in this case last month before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Bengaluru listing Nagendra as the accused no. 1, apart from 24 others which included his aides, linked persons and some companies.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Karnataka Police and the CBI where it was alleged that funds worth crores of rupees were diverted from the accounts of the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation (KMVSTDC) and sent to "fake accounts" and later laundered through shell entities. The corporation was established in 2006 with a primary focus on the socioeconomic development of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in Karnataka by running welfare schemes for them. The alleged irregularities came to the fore after the accounts superintendent of the Valmiki Corporation, Chandrasekharan P, was found dead on May 21. He wrote a suicide note alleging illegal transfer of money from the Corporation to various bank accounts.

Nagendra and five others allegedly linked to him were arrested by the ED in this case. The former minister told the ED that J G Padmanabha, the managing director of the Valmiki Corporation under his ministry, "fraudulently" transferred funds of the corporation without his knowledge or approval from the board. He denied any wrongdoing saying he did not benefit personally from the siphoned funds. In his statements, Padmanabha told the ED that he was acting on the orders of the higher officials, including Nagendra, and he had no real control over the fraudulent activities. Nagendra, an MLA from Bellary rural seat, had resigned as minister in the face of these allegations.