CCB arrests three kingpins of KSAMB scam in Chennai

Bengaluru/Chennai: The alleged kingpins in the Rs 48-crore scam in the Karnataka State Agriculture Marketing Board (KSAMB) were arrested in Chennai, the Central Crime Branch (CCB) officials said on Wednesday, September 2.

The case pertaining to the alleged illegal transfer of money belonging to the KSAMB in November last 2019 to various accounts came to light in February this year with the arrest of 15 people against whom charge-sheets have been filed.

But the kingpins of the scam were at large. According to the CCB officials, Vijay Akash (57), his son Prem Raj (32), and their accomplice Dinesh Balaji (30) were the masterminds, who were arrested in Chennai.

The police said the KSAMB had a revolving fund of Rs 100 crore to support farmers to pay the minimum support price even in the event of crop loss. In November 2019, the KSAMB had sought quotations from various banks regarding their interest rates to keep the money as a fixed deposit.

Accordingly, the Syndicate Bank branch at Uttarahalli in Bengaluru was selected for it. The money was kept in two separate fixed deposit (FD) accounts, each of Rs 50 crore.

When the KSAMB managing director Kari Gowda sought details about the FD in January, the bank said it has only Rs 52 crore and the FD certificate issued for the remaining amount was fake.

He then lodged a complaint with the police. The inquiry revealed that the amount was transferred to various other accounts illegally with the connivance of the KSAMB and bank officials. The network was busted in February.

The bank officials, KSAMB officials, and a few other individuals were arrested for being part of the scam. The police said the role of the masterminds was that they posed before the bank officials as fake KSAMB officials and convinced them to transfer the amount.