ED attached 117 immovable properties located in three southern states, deposits in 92 banks and vehicles worth over ₹57 crore.
The Karuvannur cooperative bank in Thrissur where irregularities worth over Rs 150 crore have been detected. (Special Arrangement)
The Enforcement Diorectorate (ED) has attached 117 immovable properties located in three southern states, deposits in 92 banks, and vehicles — cumulatively worth over ₹57 crore — in the money laundering probe linked to the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank of Kerala.
The ED issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach the assets. The total value of these properties is ₹57.75 crore.
The attached assets include 117 immovable properties consisting of land and buildings in Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Movable properties including 11 vehicles, fixed deposits, and credit balances in 92 bank accounts of individuals found actively involved in the offence of money laundering, the federal agency said in a statement on Friday, 13 October.
The trial court had, on 9 October, gave the agency custody of PR Aravindakshan and CK Jills, who were earlier arrested in the case. Earlier, on 11 September, CPI(M) leader and MLA AC Moideen was interrogated for over nine hours by the ED.
The ED has been questioning some people involved in the case since it conducted raids at their premises in August.
This case of alleged fraud, beginning in 2010, in the Thrissur-based CPI(M)-controlled bank has triggered a political row in the state.
The money laundering case stems from 16 FIRs registered by the Kerala Police (Crime Branch) in Thrissur.
Senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan earlier alleged that BJP leader and actor Suresh Gopi was attempting to create an anti-Left and anti-government sentiment in the society but the people of the state would see through it.
The CPI(M) had said that the arrest of Aravindakshan was a political witch-hunt by the agency following his complaint to the police, accusing the ED officials of threatening and assaulting him.
The ED had earlier arrested one Kiran PP and Satheesh Kumar P in connection with the alleged issuance of benami loans from the Karuvannur bank.
The agency arrested Jills, a former employee of the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank, as he allegedly syphoned off ₹5 crore of the bank’s funds.
So far, the ED has arrested four people in this case.
The probe found loans were “illegally” sanctioned and disbursed to these persons and their benamis from the Karuvannur Bank in cash without sufficient collateral as part of a systematic conspiracy hatched and perpetuated by the secretary and committee members in connivance with the then bank manager, it alleged.
“Bogus loans were sanctioned by the bank against the same property multiple times without the knowledge of members of society. The investigation has also revealed that benami loans were sanctioned to non-members against inflated property valuations in the names of other members, and such loan funds were siphoned off and laundered by the accused beneficiaries,” the ED said.
After the Kerala Police registered the FIR in July 2021, the registrar in their audit found “diversions” of more than ₹100 crore, the ED had said last year.
To partially shield itself from people’s wrath, the government recently announced a security amount of ₹2 lakh for each large deposit in cooperative banks under the Kerala Cooperative Deposit Guarantee Scheme. But it so far remains on paper.
According to Opposition leader VD Satheesan, most investors in cooperative banks are ordinary people, and fraudsters are looting their hard-earned money.
(With PTI inputs)
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