Bengaluru, March 3: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint against Bhimashankar Bilgundi and Mallanna S. Maddarki in a special court in Mangalore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. This case is linked to an alleged stipend scam at Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College (MRMC) in Kalaburagi, which reportedly took place between 2018 and 2024.
The ED initiated this investigation based on an FIR registered by the Kalaburagi City CEN Crime Police Station in Karnataka. The FIR named Dr. S.M. Patil, Subhash, a manager at Canara Bank, and others under various sections of the IPC. Preliminary investigations revealed significant irregularities in the stipends provided to postgraduate medical students.
According to the ED’s findings, the main accused, Bhimashankar Bilgundi, executed the scam with the assistance of certain accounting department employees and Mallanna S. Maddarki, the office superintendent of the HKE Society. Bilgundi was the former president of the Hyderabad Karnataka Education Society, which operates MRMC.
It is alleged that between 2018 and 2024, approximately ₹33.34 crores meant for PG medical students’ bank accounts were embezzled. Reports indicate that students were coerced into signing blank checks during admission, which were later filled out and cashed, depriving them of their rightful stipends.
During the investigation, the ED conducted searches at nine locations in Kalaburagi in April and May 2025, seizing several incriminating documents and digital evidence. Based on the investigation, the ED has temporarily attached assets worth around ₹6.72 crores.
These assets were reportedly purchased by the main accused, Bhimashankar Bilgundi, in the names of his sons, Rajkumar Bilgundi and Santosh Bilgundi. Additionally, several bank accounts belonging to Bilgundi and the co-accused Mallanna S. Maddarki have been attached through temporary attachment orders issued on July 18, 2025, and September 4, 2025.
The agency has stated that further investigations are ongoing, and more revelations may emerge in the future.
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