Cooperative bank scam: More banks in Kerala come under ED scanner

Kochi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has begun collecting details of all the cases linked with the cooperative banks in Kerala, which is registered by the Kerala Police.

The ongoing ED’s investigation into loan defaults took place at Karuvannur in Thrissur and Kandala in Thiruvananthapuram has prompted a wider probe into other banks with similar complaints.

Following a preliminary inspection by the ED, a report was submitted to the Union Finance Ministry stating that the depositors lost money in Thumbur, Nadakkal, Mavelikkara, Moonnilavu, Perumkaavila, Mylapra, Chathannoor, Konni, Marayamuttam, and BSNL Engineers Cooperative Banks. A copy of the same has also been sent to the Reserve Bank of India for further action.

ED officials stated that if a case is filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the assets of the accused can be confiscated, and investors’ money can be protected to a certain extent. The criminal cases registered by the police and civil cases filed by investors may take years to recover the funds upon the completion of the court proceedings. However, in PMLA cases, even the properties of adversaries and their close relatives can be frozen and confiscated.

Only one property detail out of 101 in Thrissur is disclosed
Apart from maintaining clandestine accounts in cooperative banks, including Thrissur and Karuvannur, the ED has found that the CPM also concealed property information from the authorities. Although there are 101 properties under the local, area, and district committee offices, no details other than the Thrissur district committee office has been provided to the Income Tax Department.

The discrepancy was discovered when the figures submitted by the district committee to the Income Tax Department were analysed with the actual asset information. Six of the 101 properties were recently sold, but none of these transactions were included in the details submitted.

Although the ED demanded information regarding the buildings of the local and area committee offices, constructed through crowdfunding, no details have been provided yet. Meanwhile, Thrissur District Secretary MM Varghese has stated that the information regarding the party’s assets will be handed over to the ED in the days ahead. Former MP PK Biju and the CPM District Secretary have also reiterated during questioning by the ED that no illegal transactions were conducted in any bank in Thrissur district.