CID charges Jarkiholi with 439 crore 'bank fraud'

BENGALURU: Karnataka CID has filed a chargesheet in a Bengaluru court against BJP MLA and former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi and others for allegedly defrauding Karnataka Cooperative Apex Bank and associated district cooperative banks of Rs 439 crore, including principal and interest.

The bank's GM filed a police complaint in Jan last year, alleging that Soubhagya Laxmi Sugars Ltd (Gokak) chairman Jarkiholi, along with directors Vasant V Patil and Shankar A Pawade, borrowed Rs 232 crore from July 2013 to March 2017 from the bank and other lenders.

However, they are accused of violating the loan conditions, which stipulated that the firm would not alter its board until the loan was repaid. "The accused appointed others, and this was done with an intention to cheat," the complaint reads.

Jarkiholi and others approached Karnataka HC, which rejected their plea to quash the FIR. After this, CID submitted the chargesheet on April 22.

Meanwhile, before the chargesheet was filed, Jarkiholi repaid Rs 120 crore. "The bank informed us that Jarkiholi paid Rs 120 crore. Next, we will submit a supplementary chargesheet as we are yet to conclude our probe," CID told TOI.