Karnataka: Beneficiaries showed fake bills to claim health funds

Bengaluru: The CID police probing the Chief Minister's Medical Relief Fund scam have found that the beneficiaries claimed funds by producing fake or fudged bills. Ministers and MLAs, without knowing they were fake bills, gave recommendation letters to the authorities to release the funds.

CID sources revealed that several individuals fudged and created fake documents to make money under the scheme. “The investigation so far has revealed that majority of the beneficiaries who claimed money through unscrupulous means are from North Karnataka. But people from Bengaluru, Mysuru and Tumakuru too have indulged in the fraud,” an official said.

Many have claimed thousands of rupees even for minor health ailments. “In one case, a man has got treated for a dog bite, but has claimed money for treatment for kidney failure by furnishing fake bills and documents. There are others who have claimed that they have undergone open heart surgeries, availed of treatment for cancer, brain tumor and other expensive medical procedures,” the official said.

“These fraudsters approached ministers and MLAs seeking their recommendation for releasing funds under the scheme. The political leaders too gave such letters without knowing that they are fake or fudged bills,” the official said.

“For some of the accused, it was their only means of livelihood,” the official added. Mr Somashekhar, who is the secretary at the CM’s Relief Fund Division, had filed a complaint with the Vidhana Soudha police in October last year after the fraud came to his notice. The investigation was later handed over to the CID. Those who are living below the poverty line are eligible to get benefits under the scheme.