- Satheesh Kumar P, arrested in the Karuvannur bank scam, allegedly ran a bigger robbery business under the garb of loan takeover
- Most of his victims were women who struggled to pay their loans, said Congress leader Anil Akkara
- Satheesh would first pay off the loans of his victims, then would pledge their title deeds for a bigger loan and take home the entire money
- Satheesh's activities put CPM state committee member and senior Sahakari M K Kannan under the scanner
Thrissur: Sindhu V felt hopeful when the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) arrested the person who destroyed her life in an unrelated case, the Karuvannur bank scam.
But it took her another month to draw up the courage to file a police complaint against Satheesh Kumar P.
"The charges against him in the Karuvannur case would pale when compared to what he truly is," said Avanur panchayat member Manikandan I R, who helped Sindhu in filing the complaint at Medical College Police Station on Tuesday, October 3.
On September 4, the Directorate of Enforcement -- the central agency investigating money laundering cases -- arrested private financier Satheesh Kumar P accusing him of pocketing more than Rs 14 crore in the form of illegal loans from the CPM-controlled Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank.
On the same day, the ED also arrested Kiran P P, a real estate player and member of the panchayat, accusing him of benefiting from illegal loans to the tune of Rs 48.57 crore, including interest. The loans remain unpaid.
Later on September 26, ED arrested CPM leader and Wadakkancherry municipal councillor Aravindakshan P R and the bank's former accountant Jilse C K in the case.
In the ED's case, Satheesh Kumar P is the accused no. 1 in the Karuvannur bank scam, a political hot potato billed between Rs 100 crore and Rs 400 crore (when the spiralling interest is considered). Kiran P P is the second accused.
To be sure, Satheesh Kumar was nowhere in the picture in the inquiry launched by the Department of Cooperation in 2019. Even the Kerala State Police's Crime Branch investigation launched in July 2021 did not mention him.
Their investigation focused on a clique of employees swindling crores of rupees from Karuvannur bank by flouting rules and giving more than one loan to the same person without surety, giving membership and loans to ineligible persons, and re-pledging the properties of the bank's borrowers without their knowledge and giving loans to third parties.
But Satheesh Kumar was wrecking the lives of poor people in connivance with political leaders and officials of cooperative banks across Thrissur district. 'Loan takeover' was his modus operandi. "In the name of loan takeover, he was literally robbing cooperative bank customers using his goons," said Congress leader and former MLA Anil Akkara, who is reaching out to Satheesh Kumar's victims.
The private financier has taken over at least 150 bad loans in 14 cooperative banks in Thrissur district, he said. "When he got the title deeds of the borrowers, he would pledge them in another bank or branch and borrow huge money and scoot with it," he said. The landowners would be saddled with double the original debt and would end up losing their homes and plots. This is happening in Kerala.
The brother of a victim in Mala grama panchayat said he complained to the police and the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau but they took no action. He has now approached the ED.
Onmanorama spoke with a few victims.
How Satheesh robbed Sindhu
Sometime in 2014, Sindhu borrowed around Rs 18 lakh from the Mundur branch of Kerala State Co-operative Bank Limited, branded as Kerala Bank, to build a paying guest accommodation for medics of Thrissur Medical College. Her one-cent plot was 6km from her house. She pledged her mother and sister's 2,000 sqft house on a 32-cent plot to raise the money from the bank.
But during the construction work, a plank hit her head and she was knocked out for months. The work came to a standstill.
Yet she was paying the EMI of Rs 29,090. She started defaulting in 2015. "I thought of selling the property and paying off the debt but then came the note ban and everything came to a standstill," she said. Her debt was burgeoning.
In early 2017, her husband's friend told her that he knew a private financier who would take over her loan and then find another bank that would give her a new loan. "I said yes thinking it will keep the rising interest in check," Sindhu told Onmanorama.
The next day Satheesh Kumar came to check her plot and he gave a studied statement. "He told me he would do whatever he could," she said.
On February 17, 2017, Satheesh Kumar closed Sindhu's loan at the Mundur branch. "He told me he had to shell out Rs 25.5 lakh to close the account. I hate myself for not checking the passbook," she said. The actual amount was only Rs 19.5 lakh.
She then delivered the passbook and the title deed of her sister's property to his office at Kolayi. Satheesh Kumar was charging an exorbitant 10 per cent monthly interest on a loan he extended to her. That comes to over Rs 19,000 interest every three days (for the original loan of Rs 19.5 lakh).
On March 24, 2017, 35 days after closing the loan, Satheesh Kumar arranged a new loan for Sindhu. The new loan was arranged at the Kerala Bank's Medical College Evening Branch at Peringandoor, less than 10km from the Mundur branch. That cannot happen without the connivance of cooperative bank officials, in this case, CPM leaders and workers.
But on the day of loan disbursal, Satheesh Kumar asked Sindhu to go to the branch at 11.30 am, half an hour before the bank reopens.
"When I reached there, there was only one official," she said. He told her the loan amount sanctioned was Rs 35 lakh. Sindhu was stunned. "I cannot repay such a big amount," she said.
She wanted to take a loan equal to the money Satheesh paid at the Mundur branch, plus the Rs 2.25 lakh she had to pay to Satheesh Kumar for 35 days.
While she was arguing with the lone bank employee, Satheesh Kumar arrived in a while Innova. He was accompanied by two of his staff, who looked more like goons, she said.
On seeing Satheesh Kumar, the bank employee handed over the entire Rs 35 lakh in cash to Sindhu instead of transferring the money to her account.
Satheesh then snatched the money from her hand. "I resisted and asked him how is that possible," she said. "My eyes welled up when he walked away. My son told me we have been betrayed," she said. It was too late.
Sindhu called him later. He said he would arrange a buyer for her property. The loan has now increased to Rs 64 lakh and the bank's manager is breathing down her neck to either sell the plot and house or get ready to be evicted.
How a resident of Mala lost his 'brand new house'
Gangadharan K* (name changed to protect identity) lost his "brand new house" at Ashtamichira in Mala grama panchayat to the same scam and the same scamsters. He now lives in Aluva with his family, said his elder brother, who is knocking on the doors of investigating agencies for justice.
Satheesh Kumar's accomplice Kiran K K contacted Gangadharan and promised to arrange a Rs 3 crore loan from Karuvannur Service Cooperative Branch. Kiran then put him to the bank's manager Biju M Kareem, an accused in the case.
Gangadharan opened a bank account with the Karuvannur branch. But at the last minute, Kiran and Biju said he would get a better deal from Kodungallur Town Cooperative Bank. "But when the loan was sanctioned, Kiran scooted with Rs 1 crore," the brother said.
Sometime in 2021, Gangadharan lost his house to the bank.
His brother filed complaints with the Kerala Police and the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. "They just ignored our complaint," the brother said. He has now approached the Directorate of Enforcement.
Congress leader Anil Akkara said all these banks were controlled by the CPM. Kerala Bank was formed by merging the 14 District Cooperative Banks and the Kerala State Cooperative Bank.
CPM's state committee member M K Kannan, who is from Thrissur, is Vice-President of the combined Kerala State Service Cooperative Bank. Kannan is also the President of the Thrissur Service Cooperative Bank.
Sindhu could not have been ripped off without Kannan's knowledge, considering the same bank closed her bad loan account and gave a bigger loan from another branch, said Anil Akkara.
'I took a loan of Rs 13 lakh and returned home with Rs 50,000'
In 2016, Chavakkad's Anil V had an outstanding loan of Rs 7 lakh with Kerala Gramin Bank's Guruvayur branch. He had pledged his elder brother Unnikrishnan's property to take the loan to expand his used two-wheeler business.
When he started defaulting on the repayment, he contacted Satheesh Kumar to take over his loan.
He took over the loan but before he could get me a new loan from another bank, the Union government demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currencies. "That was the first time Satheesh's plan was derailed," said Anil, who had earlier worked with the financier.
After seven months, Satheesh Kumar contacted Anil and said he had arranged a loan for him at Karuvannur bank. He then changed it to Ayyanthole Service Cooperative Bank, 20km from Karuvannur.
The bank had sanctioned Rs 13 lakh for Anil. But Satheesh wanted the money to be transferred to a bank of his choice. He reportedly asked Anil's brother Unnikrishnan to open an account with the Thrissur Service Cooperative Bank's head office branch at Thiruvambady, the office of M K Kannan.
"We went there and opened an account, and returned with the chequebook of Thrissur Service Cooperative Bank," said Anil. He then handed a blank cheque to Satheesh.
As soon as Ayyanthole bank transferred Rs 13 lakh to the Thrissur Service Cooperative Bank, Satheesh withdrew Rs 12.5 lakh from it and left Rs 50,000 for Anil.
This triggered a distrust between the brothers. "No one believed that Anil got only Rs 50,000 after the bank sanctioned Rs 13 lakh as a loan," said his wife Biji, a beautician.
Yet, the brothers worked together and closed the loan account in one year and a half. "I shelled out Rs 18.31 lakh to get my brother's documents. I had a mental breakdown," said Anil, a leader of the CPM's farmers' organisation, Karshaka Sangham, at Chavakkad.
Sarada, a retired teacher from Chittilappilly, and her husband Kuttikrishnan, a retired tahsildar, were also scammed of their loan sanctioned by Ayyanthole bank.
Kannan-Satheesh tango
Congress leader Anil Akkara said Satheesh Kumar and Kannan went back more than 30 years. "Satheesh Kumar was introduced to all the cooperative banks in Thrissur by Kannan," he alleged.
Kannan was a UDF leader till 2014 and headed the Thrissur Service Cooperative Bank. "His golden era started when he joined the LDF and struck an agreement with the CPM to keep the bank to himself," he said.
Before 2014, Satheesh was also a small-time financier. "His stocks also started rising when he started working with Kannan," he said.
For Satheesh Kumar -- who dabbles in real estate and has businesses in the Middle East -- cooperative banks are a special-purpose vehicle to move his money around, said Akkara. "He may not be able to turn it white but he can move the money around," he said.
Part-1: 'If I had not pledged my body for medical education I would have ended my life'