Valmiki case: ED attaches Rs 8 cr worth assets of ex-Karnataka minister Nagendra

The Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth Rs 8 crore of former Karnataka minister B Nagendra in the alleged Valmiki scam linked to money laundering. The properties include lands and a building, with proceeds traced under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has attached assets worth about Rs 8 crore of former Karnataka minister and Congress leader B Nagendra in the alleged Valmiki scam linked to money laundering.

The attached properties include four residential and commerical lands and a building. The action was taken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement.

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The federal probe agency called these assets “proceeds of crime” — name for illicit funds under the PMLA.

The “remaining proceeds of crime could not be traced and it appears that the same has been either exhausted or concealed by B Nagendra”, the ED statement said.

“Therefore, the ED is constrained to attach equivalent value of proceeds of crime in the form of such properties, which otherwise may frustrate the further proceedings under the PMLA,” it said.

The provisionally-attached properties are valued at Rs 8.07 crore, according to the ED.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Karnataka Police and the CBI, where it was alleged that funds worth crores of rupees were diverted from the accounts of the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation (KMVSTDC) and sent to “fake accounts” and later laundered through shell entities.

Nagendra, a former tribal affairs minister in Karnataka, was attested by the ED in the case. He was later released from jail on bail.