Bengaluru, June 10 (IANS) The Bengaluru Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint (charge sheet) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, against R.M. Manjunatha Gowda, former President of Shivamoga District Co-operative Central Bank and Karnataka State Co-operative Apex Bank, before the Supreme Court on June 6, the ED in an official statement said.

The ED initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by Shivamogga Police regarding gold loan scam at thevamogga District Central Co-operative Bank City Branch amounting to Rs 62.77 core and another FIR registered by the Lokayukta Police against Manjunath Gowda for the possession of disproportionate assets to his known sources of income to the tune of Rs 3.95 crore, ED officials said.

Earlier, the ED arrested Manjunatha Gowda on April 9 for being found involved in the offence of money laundering.

At present, he is under judicial custody.

In connection with the case, the ED immediately attached movable and immovable properties having present market value nearly worth Rs 13.91 crore belonging to Manjunatha Gowda and his wife, under the provisions of PMLA, 2002.

Further investigation is underway, the ED statement said.

The scam was unearthed in July 2014, after the bank’s general manager lodged a complaint with the police.

The Doddapet Police in Shivamogga arrested the prime accused, Manjunath Gowda, in connection with the scam at that time.

The investigations had revealed that the accused disbursed loans against fake gold, and in some cases, with no gold mortgaged against the loan.

Gowda and six other administrative board members were disqualified in 2006 from their posts on charges of financial irregularities.

It was also revealed that between 2004 and 2014, gold loans totalling Rs 62 crore were disbursed.

In this period, Rs 5.5 crore loans were given against actual gold in 144 cases, Rs 40.57 crore loans against fake gold in 185 cases, and Rs 17.13 crore loans against no mortgage.

The sources revealed that Manjunath Gowda is a close confidant of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar.

The ED investigations had revealed that Gowda has been found involved in the offence of money laundering, adding that the case involves the disbursal of more than Rs 62 crore in loans by accepting fake gold jewellery as collateral at the Shivamogga District Co-operative Central Bank.

“Investigation revealed that large-scale misappropriation of funds took place at the Shivamogga District Co-operative Central Bank, City branch, which was orchestrated primarily by the branch manager, B. Shobha, on the instructions of Manjunatha Gowda,” the earlier statement by the ED said.

The investigating agency said that as per the chargesheet filed by Lokayukta Police, Sobha, in conspiracy with other co-accused, diverted a significant amount of bank funds, totalling nearly Rs 62.77 crore.

The ED said that the modus operandi involved opening fraudulent gold loan accounts without the knowledge of the individual account holders, utilising fake, fabricated, and forged documents.

–IANS

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