Bengalur

Three arrested for swindling KSAMB funds

The Central Crime Branch police on Wednesday arrested three people, one of whom is the prime accused, for allegedly misappropriating around ₹50 crore of Karnataka State Agricultural Marketing Board (KSAMB) funds.

The money was part of the ₹100 crore that the board had deposited at SyndicateBank. The arrested — Vijay Akash, 57, who is the prime accused, Dorai Raj, 32, and Dinesh Babuji, 30, — have been on the run since the scam was discovered in January this year.

According to the police, Vijay colluded with the branch manager and assistant manager of SyndicateBank, Uttarahalli branch, to transfer the money into different accounts in Chennai. The board had placed ₹100 crore in two fixed deposits of ₹50 crore each in Uttarahalli branch in November 2019. In January this year, however, the board realised that the money in one of the FDs had been transferred to various current accounts without their knowledge.

To date, the CCB has arrested 15 people. “Vijay is a habitual offender with criminal cases pending in Tirupati, Hyderabad, and Coimbatore,” the police said.

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