Congress MLA B Nagendra granted bail in multi-crore Valmiki Corporation 'scam' case

Bengaluru: Congress MLA, B Nagendra was granted bail by the Special Court for People’s Representatives here on Monday.

He had resigned as the Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister in June following allegations of his involvement in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation scam.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) said last week Nagendra has been identified as the primary accused and mastermind behind the scam, allegedly orchestrating it with the help of 24 others.

The ED had earlier arrested Nagendra and five other key accused during the investigation.

The ED had said its investigation revealed that under the influence of Nagendra, the account of the corporation was moved to the MG Road Branch without any proper authorisation, where Rs 187 crore, including Rs. 43.33 crore from the State Treasury under the ‘Ganga Kalyana Scheme’, were deposited without following proper procedures and in violation of government guidelines.

“These funds were subsequently siphoned off through multiple shell accounts and converted into cash and bullion. ED investigation also revealed that an amount of Rs. 20.19 crore of the diverted funds was used to support a candidate contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha election from the Bellary constituency, as well as for the personal expenses of B Nagendra,” the federal probe agency added.