Fake gold scam: Co-op bank chief in ED custody

Bengaluru: Sleuths from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the chairman of Shivamogga District Cooperative Central Bank, RM Manjunath Gowda, Wednesday in connection with a fake gold scam from 2014. He was taken into 14-day police custody. Gowda was the chairman when the scam surfaced and was re-elected to the post.Earlier on Tuesday, the ED raided eight places in Bengaluru, Shivamogga, Bhadravati, and Thirthahalli, where the agency seized documents and related materials. The raided places included Gowda's residences and farmhouses.Gowda was in the guest house of a cooperative bank in Bengaluru during the raid. Later in the evening, ED sleuths visited the guest house in Chamrajpet and detained him there. After questioning him until late at night, the ED announced his arrest and produced him before the court, which handed him over to 14-day custody.The scam surfaced in 2014, with Manjunath Gowda as the prime accused. According to allegations, the bank sanctioned a Rs 62 crore loan against pledged fake gold articles. Initially, Shivamogga police probed the case and arrested as many as 18 bank staff, including Gowda. Later, the case was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which chargesheeted Gowda and others.At the same time, the ED issued summons to Gowda and others, which was challenged in the high court. The HC stayed the ED investigation. However, the ED succeeded in getting the stay vacated recently.