BENGALURU: Gokak BJP MLA and former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi has looted around Rs 819 crore of public money that he had borrowed from the State Apex Bank, District Central Cooperative banks and other financial institutions for his sugar company, alleged KPCC spokesman Lakshman here on Sunday.
Lakshman said he will file a complaint with the Enforcement Directorate on June 30 and also move to the Karnataka High Court. Ramesh’s company, Sowbhagyalakshmi Sugars Ltd, has defaulted on payments of Rs 108 crore to Apex Bank, Rs 180 to Alchemist Assets Reconstruction Company Ltd, Rs 128.96 crore, R 57 crore, Rs 44 crore and Rs 44.33 crore to DCC banks in Vijayapura, South Canara, and Tumakuru, Rs 51 to Karnataka DCC bank, Rs 42.22 crore to Arihant Credit Cooperative, Rs 22.66 crore to Union Bank and Rs 6.87 crore to Sri Byraveshwara Souharda Credit cooperative, he said.
Apex Bank Chairman Belli Prakash, a BJP MLA, had issued a notice in 2019 as to why the assets of the company cannot be confiscated, Lakshman said. After receiving the notice, Ramesh moved the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka High Court, which in an interim order on November 28, 2019 instructed the company to repay 50 per cent of the loans within six weeks. Jarkiholi ignored the instructions, he said.
Though Sowbhagyalaksmi Sugars claimed to have earned a profit of Rs 60 crore in 2021, the government has declared the loans taken by it as NPA. Though directors have been disqualified, the profit has been transferred to their accounts, including Rs 96 lakh to Ramesh, Rs 72 lakh to his son, Rs 73 lakh to his daughter and Rs 22 lakh to another person, Lakshman alleged.