BENGALURU: The city police registered an FIR against former minister and BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi for not repaying a loan of Rs 439.7 crore taken from a cooperative bank. The complaint was filed by the general manager of Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Bank Limited, Rajanna (56), on Friday.
According to the FIR, Ramesh Jarkiholi and the directors Soubhagya Laxmi Sugars Ltd sought a loan from the bank to develop the factory. Jarkiholi was the former chairman and managing director of the sugar company. The FIR also names Vasanth V Patil and Shankar A Powade, who are the other directors of the factory.
The bank released Rs 232.88 crore to the factory between July 12, 2013 and March 31, 2017 across different branches of the bank. However, none of the accused repaid any portion of the loan, resulting in the amount going up to Rs 439.7 crore, including interest, as of August 31, 2023.
As per regulations, any change in the factory’s managing director or directors should be notified to the bank. But the accused had unilaterally stepped down from their positions without notifying the bank and subsequently appointed individuals related to them as new managing directors and directors, to evade loan repayment, the FIR read.
The Vishveshwarapuram police registered a case under IPC Section 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating).