'Deceased man stood guarantee for Rs 1 lakh loan' – complaint against co-op bank in Kannur

Kannur: Iritti Co-operative Assistant Registrar has received a complaint against Kolithattu Service Cooperative Bank near Iritty in Kannur, saying that a deceased account holder's name was misused to create a new loan account.

As per the complaint filed by N V Thomas, son of Nedumpallil N J Varghese, a loan worth Rs 1 lakh was allotted to a woman, and according to the records, N J Varghese had stood a guarantee for the loan. He had died in 2011. The family learned about the loan when they received a default notice in the name of Varghese.

N J Varghese had an account in the bank. ''The postman returned the notice mentioning that the person in the address had died. We learnt from the postman that my father had stood a guarantee for a loan in the bank. We were unaware of it. I have checked with the bank and found that it was a fake loan allocated to one Syamala. It was approved seven years after the death of my father. The bank has accepted that it was a mistake but they have not taken any action against the culprits until now,'' said N V Thomas.

According to Thomas, the bank informed him that it was a clerical mistake. However, they are not ready to reveal who has benefited from the amount and the employees behind this. "I have asked the bank to cancel the membership of my father and to pay back all the amount in his name,'' Thomas added. However, P Shinoj, Bank secretary denied the allegations of Thomas and said that they had not received any complaints about a fake loan.