BENGALURU: The Karnataka government has ordered a probe into alleged diversion of government funds collected in the form of stamp duty and registration fees to the personal bank accounts of sub-registrars.
Hoodwinking top officials, sub-registrars have reportedly diverted crores of funds into their personal accounts to walk away with short-term deposit interest rates. Revenue minister R Ashoka on Thursday told the legislative assembly that he has ordered a probe as he suspects a much bigger scam.
‘Sub-registrars opened personal accounts’
Minister Ashoka suspects a bigger scam leading to huge financial loss to the state exchequer. “I’ve asked the IGR (inspector general of registration) to submit a report in a month. We’ll curb this menace and punish the culprits,” Ashoka said during zero hour.
The alleged scam came to light by a recent instance reported from the sub-registrar’s office at Sringeri in Chikkamagaluru district where money collected towards stamp duty after a property was registered was not remitted to the government’s treasury. “The money was eventually found in the account of an official,” a department official said.
IGR officials said the buyer had produced a Khajane-2 challan as proof of paying stamp duty of Rs 5.3 lakh and the amount was reflected on the web portal of the treasury. When verification was carried out after a few days, it was discovered that the said amount of money had not been remitted.
“It is also found that Rs 5.3 lakh that was deposited in the bank through a challan was withdrawn and deposited into an officer's personal account. Many sub-registrars are found to have opened such personal accounts. We expect the probe to reveal an unholy nexus between revenue officials and banks,” said Ashoka.