BENGALURU: The ED, Bengaluru Zonal Office, issued a provisional attachment order on July 16, attaching assets worth approximately Rs 1.32 crore of Malur Congress MLA KY Nanjegowda and others, in a money laundering case related to Kolar-Chikkaballapur District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd (KOMUL) recruitment scam in 2023.
In a release on Thursday, the ED said it had filed a money laundering case against Nanjegowda and others based on material collected during investigation in relation to a land grant scam in Malur taluk under Nanjegowda’s chairmanship, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The agency also made a reference to Lokayukta police and filed a complaint before the Special Court for trial of MP/MLA cases in its efforts to register the scam. Investigation revealed that the 2023 KOMUL recruitment process, which consisted of a written exam and interview, was “manipulated in lieu of money and/or recommendation of political persons”, the ED stated.
The recruitment committee led by then chairman Nanjegowda and then MD KN Gopala Murthy “conspired with other directors in KOMUL and hatched a plan, which resulted in favouring certain less meritorious candidates and deprived deserving candidates”.
Evidence seized during ED’s search included parallel OMR sheets (original and tampered), WhatsApp messages from politicians recommending certain candidates and forwarded by Nanjegowda and other directors to the staff of KOMUL.
“Procedural lapses were observed in the entire recruitment process at the level of KOMUL and Mangalore University (MU) indicating efforts to hide irregularities in the process. Admission by the directors and staff of KOMUL, registrar, MU, Nagendra Prasad and certain candidates, who were accommodated in the examination, has unearthed a mega scam in recruitment to the milk union,” the ED added.
“As per evidence gathered, a sum of Rs 1,56,50,000 was generated as proceeds of crime by manipulating the recruitment process at the written exam and interview stages. Nanjegowda is the principal architect of the scam, leveraging his role as chairman, KOMUL. He played a leading role in fixing the number of ‘reserved’ seats, and orchestrated how bribes would be collected... he illegally enriched himself to the tune of Rs 80 lakh, out of the total proceeds of Rs 1.56 crore,” the ED added.