Karnataka Minister Nagendra, facing allegations in illegal money transfer case, to resign: Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said Minister B Nagendra, who is facing allegations in connection with an illegal money transfer case involving a state-run corporation, has not resigned, minutes after declaring that he has quit his post.

He clarified that the Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister would tender his resignation later today after addressing a press meet.

Earlier, after Nagendra met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, also state Congress chief, said: "Not wanting to embarrass the party, he (Nagendra) voluntarily came forward and has resigned. We did not ask him to resign. We had a discussion with him." Shivakumar quoted the 52-year old four-time MLA, also Youth Empowerment and Sports Minister, as saying that he was ready for any probe, including by the CBI.

"We too had discussions with several people, no Minister will show courage to misappropriate such a huge amount of money. It is not easy," he added.

However, soon after, Shivakumar had a telephonic conversation with Nagendra, and said: "He (Nagendra) has now told me that he is going to Vidhana Soudha, address the press, and after that he will submit the resignation." The illegal money transfer issue, involving Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Ltd, came to light, after its accounts superintendent, Chandrashekhar P, died by suicide on May 26, leaving behind a death note.

The note revealed the unauthorised transfer of Rs 187 crore belonging to the state-run Corporation from its bank account, and from that, Rs 88.62 crore was illegally moved to various accounts allegedly belonging to "well-known" IT companies and a Hyderabad-based cooperative bank.

Chandrashekhar has named the Corporation's now-suspended Managing Director J G Padmanabh, accounts officer Parashuram G Durugannavar, and Union Bank of India Chief Manager Suchismita Rawal in the note, while also stating that the "Minister" had issued oral orders for transferring the funds.