MUDA scam: ED attaches 92 more sites in Mysuru

Earlier in January, ED had provisionally attached 160 MUDA sites having a market value of approximately ₹300 crore, mostly those registered in the name of realtors and other individuals.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 92 sites allotted by Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to ‘entities such as housing cooperative society and individuals who are front/dummy for influential persons, including MUDA officials’, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. As on June 9, the sites have a market value of ₹100 crore. 

Earlier in January, ED had provisionally attached 160 MUDA sites having a market value of approximately ₹300 crore, mostly those registered in the name of realtors and other individuals.

With this, the total value of assets provisionally attached has gone up to ₹400 crore.

Though the case pertains to 14 alternate sites allotted to Parvathi B. M., wife of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, which ED has found fault in, ED hasn’t attached those sites as Ms. Parvathi returned them to MUDA. 

According to a statement issued on June 10: “ED investigation revealed a large-scale scam in allotment of MUDA sites by flouting various statutes and government orders/guidelines, and by other fraudulent means. The role of ex-MUDA commissioners, including G. T. Dinesh Kumar, has emerged as instrumental in illegal allotment of compensation sites to ineligible entities/individuals. The evidence with respect to obtaining bribes for making illegal allotments in the form of cash, bank transfer, movable/immovable properties has been gathered during the course of the investigation.

“The modus operandi for making illegal allotment involved identification of ineligible beneficiaries and making allotment using fake documents/incomplete documents in direct violation of government orders, and also backdating of allotment letters in some cases. The gratification received for making these illegal allotments was routed through a co-operative society and bank accounts of the relatives/associates of the officers playing key roles in the allotment process. The gratification thus received was further used to purchase some of these illegally allotted MUDA sites in the name of relatives of MUDA officers.”