Couple arrested in Rs 4.24 crore leave encashment fraud at Madhugiri taluk panchayat

TUMAKURU: A second division assistant at the Madhugiri taluk panchayat and her husband have been arrested in a Rs 4.24 crore earned leave encashment sanction scam. Sowmya and her husband Ramesh have since been taken into custody. Currently, intense interrogation of the accused is under way.

A few taluk panchayat employees had committed massive irregularities in the transfer of earned leave benefits of retired employees using IDs of employees and their family members. Fake bills were created 118 times and money was transferred to various bank accounts.

The couple had siphoned off a total of Rs 4,24,06,997 of government funds. Crores of rupees that were meant for families of retired employees were deposited into accounts of their own relatives. More than Rs 2 crore of earned leave money was transferred to four accounts of accused Ramesh.

As soon as the irregularity came to light, the accused Sowmya was suspended from service and she went into hiding. Two-and-a-half months after the case was registered, The Madhugiri police nabbed the couple who were in hiding. Case also filed against Shivaleela, Praveen, Gadya Suma, and Meenakshi along with Sowmya and Ramesh.