ED attaches assets of ex-Karnataka co-operative bank chief in Rs 63-crore scam

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 6, 2025 23:33 IST

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has attached assets worth about Rs 14 crore of the former chairman of a Karnataka-based cooperative bank and his wife as part of an alleged Rs 63 crore worth gold loan scam linked money laundering case.

RM Manjunatha Gowda was arrested by the federal probe agency in April after the agency carried out raids in the case.

The former chairman of the Shimoga district co-operative central bank headquartered in Shivamogga is currently lodged in jail under judicial custody.

Immovable and movable properties having present market value worth Rs 13.91 crore belonging to Gowda and his wife have been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in an investigation related to a gold loan scam at the city branch of the cooperative bank, the ED said in a statement.

The money-laundering case stems from a complaint and chargesheet filed by the Karnataka Police where it was alleged that B Shobha, a former branch manager of the said bank, in conspiracy with other co-accused "diverted" bank funds worth Rs 62.77 crore.

The modus operandi, as per the police, involved opening "fraudulent" gold loan accounts without the knowledge of the individual account holders, utilising fake, fabricated and forged documents.

The ED probe found that "large-scale misappropriation of funds took place at the Shimoga district co-operative central bank, city branch which was orchestrated primarily by the branch manager B Shobha on the instructions of R M Manjunatha Gowda".

The agency alleged the "proceeds of crime" generated by B Sobha in conspiracy with other co-accused were "laundered" and "handed-over" to Gowda.

Gowda "acquired" various movable and immovable properties from the alleged illegal funds and as per a chargesheet filed by the Lokayukta Police, he was also found to be in possession of assets "disproportionate" to his known sources of income, the ED claimed.