Overview
- The CBI completed its probe and on Tuesday filed three chargesheets in Bengaluru that name former ST Welfare Minister B. Nagendra and about 29 others over alleged misappropriation tied to the Karnataka Maharishi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.
- Investigators allege about ₹187 crore was pooled into the corporation’s Union Bank account and that ₹89.63 crore was fraudulently diverted using forged cheques and RTGS payments before being laundered through roughly 600 bank accounts.
- The chargesheets detail the alleged methods used to move money: forged seals and signatures, fabricated KYC and bogus firms, active facilitation by branch bank officials, and conversion of proceeds into cash, bullion and luxury vehicles.
- The CBI names a network of officials, middlemen and private firms — including Nagendra’s associate Nekkanti Nagaraj, the KMVSTDCL managing director, Hyderabad intermediaries and linked contractors — and alleges payments of bribes and benami assets.
- The case moves now to the courts while related probes, including an Enforcement Directorate money‑laundering inquiry and prior Karnataka High Court oversight that expanded the CBI scope in July 2025, could shape legal and political fallout and affect delivery of funds meant for tribal welfare.