Karuvannur bank scam: 50 individuals, 5 companies named accused in ED charge sheet

Kochi: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), investigating the illegal loan scam at CPM-controlled Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank, has named 50 persons and five companies as accused in its charge sheet submitted to the Special Court hearing money laundering cases in Kochi on Wednesday.

Though 90 defaulters owe Rs 343 crore to the bank, the interim charge sheet has pegged the fraud of the 55 accused at Rs 90 crore.

The 12 accused indicted by the Kerala Police's Crime Branch also find a place in ED's chargesheet. Private financier Satheesh Kumar P (56) and CPM leader and Wadakkanchery municipal councillor Aravindakshan P R (57) -- arrested by the ED -- are the 13th and 14th accused ED's charge sheet.

Of the five companies named as accused, three companies belong to the prime accused Bejoy A K, a commission agent of the bank who owes around Rs 85 crore, including interest, to the bank.

The other two companies, Platinum Laboratories, and Catrix Technologies, are owned by accused Kiran P P, who owes Rs 48.57 crore to the bank.

ED's prosecutor M J Santhosh said the 55 accused include those who played a direct role in the scam such as bank employees, bank directors from 2011 to 2016 and from 2016 to 2021, recipients of the illegal loans, and those who allegedly helped launder money siphoned from the bank via illegal loans. "Among the borrowers, we have indicted only those who owe more than Rs 5 crore to the bank in the first charge sheet," said Santhosh.

The others would be named as accused in the next round

Those, including politicians, who assisted, abetted, and pressurised bank officials to sanction the illegal loans and those who illegally borrowed less than Rs 5 crore would be named in the next charge sheet, he said.

ED brought the 12,000-page charge sheet in six boxes to the Special Court for money laundering cases in Kochi Wednesday evening. The first 300 pages are the detailed complaint, the summary of the roles played by the accused, and their list of assets, he said.

ED has listed around 100 witnesses in the case. "We have been working round the clock. Six persons have not slept for three days to submit the charge sheet today," said prosecutor Santhosh.

ED had to submit the charge sheet before 60 days to deny default bail to the accused. ED did it in 57 days after it made the first arrests in the case.

On September 4, ED arrested private financier Satheesh Kumar P (56), realty player, and illegal bank member Kiran P P (33), and listed them as the first two accused in the case.

On September 26, ED arrested Wadakkanchery municipal councillor and CPM leader Aravindakshan P R (57) and former bank accountant Jilse C K (45).

Jilse and Kiran are accused of taking illegal loans worth Rs 5.06 crore and Rs 25 crore, respectively. Satheesh Kumar is accused of receiving Rs 14 crore from Kiran. Aravindakshan is accused of helping Satheesh launder the money by renting out his accounts with several banks.

Aravindakshan's involvement
Though Aravindakshan reportedly told ED that his only source of income was the honorarium of Rs 90,000 per year he received as the councillor, his account with the State Bank of India saw cash transactions worth Rs 66.76 lakh in 2015, 2016, and 2017. His bank account with Peringandoor Service Cooperative Bank saw cash transactions worth Rs 1.02 crore.

ED also found nine fixed deposits of Rs 5 lakh each, totalling Rs 45 lakh in Aravindakshan's name in Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank. ED alleged that the CPM councillor was the black money whitening machine of Satheesh Kumar.

CPM councillor Aravindakashan was drawn into the case after ED seized a phone during a search at the house of Satheesh Kumar at Kolazhy in Thrissur on August 22, 2023. During the bail hearing, ED told the Special Court that the phone had incriminating call recordings of conversations between Satheesh Kumar and Aravindakshan and the agency tried to play a few conversations in the open court but was stopped by the defence counsels.

"We submitted the call recordings in the charge sheet," said prosecutor Santhosh. The two talk about commissions from illegal loans and express fear of being caught, said officials.

Since Satheesh did not take loans directly from Karuvannur bank, it was challenging to gather evidence against him, said the prosecutor.

The ED has listed Jijor, a former employee of Satheesh, and Jayarajan P as the key witnesses against the private financier.

Jijor has given his confidential statement before the magistrate. In ED's remand reports, Jijor is quoted as saying that Kiran P P deposited Rs 2 crore in his account over the years and the money was given to Satheesh Kumar in cash. Jijor also ED that Satheesh Kumar received another Rs 3 crore from Karuvannur bank, via Kiran, after mortgaging a 13-cent plot of Sailakshmi G. The money was handed over in the presence of Karuvannur bank's then manager Biju M Kareem, who is also an accused in the case.

Satheesh Kumar could not provide a source for the money that reached his account in 2014-2015. "To create a source, he took documents from Jayarajan P. He has shared the evidence with ED," Adv Santhosh said.

Since it is a "scheduled offence", the burden of proof is on the accused, he said. "We have to only prove that monies have flowed to the bank accounts. The onus of proving that the money is legitimate is on the account holders," he said.

Before submitting the charge sheet, ED had attached assets worth around Rs 88.53 crore belonging to 38 persons. Of that, assets worth Rs 30.70 crore belonged to Bijoy A K, a commission agent of Karuvannur bank. The bank had given him unsecured loans worth Rs 48.52 crore, which as of December 31, 2022, has swollen to Rs 85 crore.

ED had also attached 46 bank accounts and 17 properties of the first accused Satheesh Kumar P and his wife Bindu C G. The accounts had Rs 71.43 lakh and the properties were valued at Rs 1 crore.

In all, 90 willful defaulters had taken loans worth Rs 188.40 crore from Karuvannur bank. The loans have ballooned to Rs 343.61 crore as of December 31, 2022, according to the bank's statement to ED.