ED attaches Rs 45 crore assets in Bengaluru bank fraud case

Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 45.32 crore of Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank's former and present executives in an alleged fraud case, an official said on Friday.

"Assets worth Rs 45.32 crore of the bank's former and present executives have been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 in the cooperative bank fraud case," said the official in a statement here.

The assets belong to the president, former vice-president, and former and present chief executives of Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank and its affiliate Sri Guru Sarvabhouma Credit Cooperative Ltd.

"Of the assets attached, 29 properties valued at Rs 38.16 crore are in the form of farmland, flats and houses of K. Ramakrishna, late T.S. Sathyanarayana, late M.V. Maiya and A. Santosh Kumar of the tainted bank," said the official.

The remaining Rs 7.16 crore assets are in the form of bank balances and fixed deposits of the accused executives. Ramakrishna and Sathyanarayana were president and vice-president, respectively, of both the banks.

"Ramakrishna had set up Guru Sarvabhouma Credit Cooperative Ltd in 2015 to avoid paying the tax deduction at source (TDS) though mandatory under the Income-Tax Act, 1961," said the official. Preliminary investigation revealed that unspecified amounts were transferred from Sarvabhouma to the other (Raghavendra) bank. Ramakrishna and Maiya were responsible for transferring the amounts from the society to the NPA (non-performing assets) accounts of the bank.

The case against the accused was registered at the Banaswadi police station in the city's northeast suburb under various sections of the IPC and the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments (KPID) Act 2004 for allegedly embezzling over Rs 1,500 crore, collected from the depositors, mostly senior citizens, through fixed deposits by promising them 12-16 per cent interest rate per annum.

"The accused withdrew money from the bank by creating fictitious loan accounts and did not repay, committing breach of trust and cheated public," said an statement. The bank's president (Ramakrishna) and his family members are absconding, while former CEO (Maiya) allegedly committed suicide in the city on July 6. Investigations also revealed that Ramakrishna, who is one of the directors of Mukhyaprana Agro Farming & Research Info Ltd, his wife and son layered the crime proceeds in the company's name and Sarvabhouma by diverting funds from Raghavendra.

Maiya also bought properties by diverting funds from the bank and society. The bank's employees were also involved in diverting funds by creating fictitious loan accounts and purchased properties in their names. In January, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) restricted the bank from doing business for alleged irregularities in transactions.