Former Karnataka minister B Nagendra granted bail in Valmiki Corporation scam

A special court in Bengaluru on Monday granted bail to former Karnataka minister and Congress leader B Nagendra in connection with a money laundering case related to alleged misappropriation of funds in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited.

Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat allowed the bail petition filed by Nagendra following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 12 this year.

Nagendra was arrested by the ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after an extensive search operation by the central agency following allegations of misappropriation of funds.

The alleged scam came to light in May this year after the Valmiki Corporation’s account superintendent, Chandrashekhar, died by suicide at his residence. Chandrashekhar left behind a note alleging misappropriation of the welfare funds.

Soon after, the Karnataka government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations while the ED began a separate probe.

As per the ED, around ₹90 crore was illegally transferred from the Valmiki Corporation’s bank account to several unauthorised accounts.