Rs 81 crore stipend scam surfaces from Karnataka's Medical College, ED conducts searches
Karnataka- A coordinated search operation was carried out in the Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College (MRMC) stipend scam in Karnataka, where the ED's Bengaluru office seized electronic records and documents from seven premises in Kalaburagi district, an official said on Monday.
The three-day search operation was conducted on April 30, May 1 and May 3 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, to probe the alleged misappropriation of Rs 81.21 crore under the stipend scam.
In the search operation, the ED targeted properties of former president of Hyderabad Karnataka Education Society (HKE) Bhimashankar Bilgundi, former dean of MRMC Medical College, Gulbarga, Dr SM Patel and accountant of the college, Subhash Chandra.
Speaking to IANS, the ED said that during the search operation, incriminating evidence was seized in the form of electronic records containing Excel sheets containing details of blank signed cheques received from PG medical students and cash withdrawn by the college management from the bank accounts of the students.
The ED initiated the investigation based on an FIR lodged with the Cyber and Economics and Narcotics (CEN) Cell, Kalaburagi. According to the FIR, the college records show that a stipend of Rs 81.21 crore was released to 282 postgraduate students between January 1, 2018 and March 1, 2024. However, this money was never used by the PG medical students.
Meanwhile, the ED investigation has revealed that during the financial years 2018-19 to 2023-24, the accused collected signed blank cheques from PG students of MRMC. The ED said that in this way, Rs 30 crore was misappropriated by the previous college management.
The FIR names Bilgundi, two-time president of the society, MRMC Medical College Dean SM Patil, the college accountant and a manager of Canara Bank, MRMC branch, as accused in the scholarship scam.
