Lokayukta raids Ambedkar Corporation over loan irregularities in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Lokayukta officials on Tuesday carried out early-morning raids at the office of Ambedkar Development Corporation Limited at Shivajinagar here, over allegations of large-scale corruption in sanctioning loans.

The anti-corruption watchdog secured a search warrant from the court, Lokayukta SP Shivaprakash said. A case under Prevention of Corruption Act was registered based on a complaint by R Gururaj, alleging systematic irregularities in loans sanctioned between 2020 & 2023.

Loans meant for cooperative societies and cooperative banks were allegedly approved using forged and fabricated documents. Preliminary assessment indicates that the misappropriation could be in the range of Rs 3 crore to Rs 4 crore. 

Records found

"Fake documents were created to obtain and approve these loans. During verification, we found records suggesting misappropriation,” the officials said.

Lokayukta officials are examining loan sanction files, digital records, financial documents and internal communication trails. 

“We are scrutinising original documents and tracking the chain of approvals. Further action will be taken based on material recovered,” the officials said.