ED seizes ₹100 cr in Muda land case, dummy owners linked to officials

The newly attached properties are registered under the names of housing cooperative societies and individuals who allegedly served as 'fronts' or dummy owners, the ED said

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached 92 properties worth ₹100 crore in connection with the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (Muda) land allotment scam, taking the total value of seized assets in the case to ₹400 crore.

 

The central agency said in a statement on Tuesday that the attached assets were registered under the names of housing cooperative societies and individuals who allegedly acted as ‘fronts’ or dummy owners for influential persons, including Muda officials.

 

The ED probe is based on an FIR registered by the Mysore branch of the Lokayukta Police under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is among those named in the complaint.

 

Scam involved backdated letters, dummy owners

According to the ED, the scam involved large-scale irregularities in the allotment of Muda sites, executed through violations of legal procedures, government orders, and fraudulent means.

 

“The role of ex-Muda commissioners including GT Dinesh Kumar has emerged as instrumental in illegal allotment of compensation sites to ineligible entities/individuals,” the ED said.

 

Investigators found that in many instances, site allotment letters were backdated to give legitimacy to illegal transactions. Bribes were allegedly paid to officials to facilitate the process, routed both through cash and banking channels involving cooperative societies and the accounts of associates and family members of Muda officials.

 

Funds allegedly recycled to conceal illegal gains

In several cases, the proceeds from these bribes were used to repurchase the illegally allotted sites in the names of relatives of those involved in the scam, effectively creating a paper trail that ED officials have now traced.

 

This is the second round of major attachments in the case. Earlier, the ED had attached 160 sites valued at approximately ₹300 crore.

 

Further investigation is ongoing, the agency said.