Bengaluru, May 25: JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday saw BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa’s hand in the money laundering and benami transactions complaint filed against him.
In the complaint filed with the I-T department on Tuesday, one Venkatesh Gowda, who claimed to be a Congress worker, had charged that former prime minister H D Gowda and his family amassed wealth of up to Rs 20,000 crore from unknown sources through money laundering and benami transactions.
The complaint was filed on May 20 at the Income Tax department’s Bengaluru office. The covering letter of the complaint claims to have 6,250 pages of documents with 600 annexures.
“My complaint is under the Money Laundering Act and Benami Property Transaction Act, wherein all the documents are enclosed herewith and in each and every individual case, Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy and other members of the family are the end beneficiaries. Investments are made in the name of Kavita, wife of H D Balakrishna Gowda, the eldest son of Deve Gowda,'' the complaint stated.
The complainant added that illegally earned money was invested in purchasing properties in various parts of Karnataka, New Delhi and the US in benami names.
Reacting to the charges, Kumaraswamy said, “According to my information, this Venkatesh Gowda was with the Congress. He later joined the KJP (founded by Yeddyurappa). He unsuccessfully contested the 2013 Assembly elections on a KJP ticket from Rajarajeshwarinagar constituency.”
The JD(S) leader dared Yeddyurappa to come out in the open and make charges. “Why indulge in such cheap tactics? If they have documentary evidence about my family having benami property and money laundering, then they could have held a press conference and made the charges with supporting material,” he said.
‘Let them confiscate’
Kumaraswamy said if there was any truth in the charges, then all his properties could be confiscated and the proceeds channelised to waive loans procured by farmers.
On the Janthakal Mining Company case, Kumaraswamy said he had been summoned as a witness by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) but both the Congress and the BJP had made it out that he was on the verge of being arrested.
“The government does not even seem to mind misleading the courts for political gains,” he added.
BJP denies charge
Later in the day, the BJP denied that Yeddyurappa had anything to do with the case. BJP State Secretary Tejaswini Gowda told reporters that Kumaraswamy is known for his “hit and run” politics. “Why is he so apprehensive? If he has done nothing wrong, let him face the case,” she said.
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