Tag: Karuvannur Cooperative Bank

One more held in bank fraud case, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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THRISSUR: The crime branch team probing the fraud in the CPM-ruled Karuvannur cooperative bank arrested Pallath Kiran, the key accused in the case. Kiran, who hails from Mapranam in the district, was nabbed by the probe team from Kollamkode in Palakkad district, on Monday, the crime branch DSP V A Ullas said.

Kiran was a commission agent of the bank, and not a direct employee. However, nearly Rs 23 crore have flown into his account from the Karuvannur bank. Even though the police have not found any document establishing that Kiran has a membership in the bank, he was sanctioned a loan of Rs 45 lakh. He has also availed loans from another 41 benami accounts, several of them amounting above Rs 50 lakh each, the police sources said. Kiran, however, has said that he was not an employee of the bank and was not involved in the fraud.

Kiran had been absconding for the last several months. As per the information received by police, he had been hiding in several north Indian states as well as Tamil Nadu. He was arrested when he was on his way to Kollamkode by bus, the DSP said.

Kiran is the fourth accused in the case and now only two more accused are remaining to be nabbed in the case.

Row over min attending marriage reception

Meanwhile, minister for higher education R Bindu, has courted controversy by attending the marriage party of the daughter of one of the absconding accused. The marriage of the daughter of Ambili Mahesh was held on October 24, and Bindu, who is the wife of the acting CPM secretary Vijayaraghavan, had reportedly attended the reception at the house of the bridegroom at Muriyad.

Sources close to Bindu clarified that she had attended from the groom’s side. The groom’s mother is currently a district panchayat member. Bindu and the groom’s mother have worked for long periods in the CPM.



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‘Missing’ whistleblower of bank fraud returns, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The ousted CPM activist and whistleblower of the fraud at the party-ruled Karuvannur Cooperative Bank Sujesh Kannatt, who had gone missing on Saturday returned home in the wee hours of Monday.

Kannatt, who complained against the alleged irregularities at the cooperative bank at Karuvannur, said he was under stress and had undertaken a pilgrimage to Parassinikadavu temple.

Sujesh had left home in the car on Saturday morning and switched off his phone. “We all became worried when we were not able to contact him even by Saturday evening. So we filed a complaint with the police at Irinjalakuda,” said his mother Suma.

However, Kannatt reached home around 1:30am on Monday and reported at the Irinjalakuda police station around 7:45am.

The CI of Irinjalakuda said that Kannatt was produced before the judicial first class magistrate and his statement was taken. Kannatt had reportedly told the police that he was unaware of the sensation created in the media about his disappearance as his mobile was switched off.

Kannatt, who was the Porathissery CPM branch secretary, had launched a solo protest demanding action against those involved in the fraud at the bank, on June 14 last. Subsequently, he was expelled from the party.



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Four ex-board members arrested, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The crime branch team probing the fraud at the CPM-ruled Karuvannur Cooperative Bank on Monday arrested four former director board members, including former president K K Divakaran.

The probe team identified the other three arrested persons as Chakrampulli Jose, Thaivalappil Byju and Vakkayil Veettil Lalithan. While Divakaran, Jose and Byju are CPM activists and local-level leaders, Lalithan is a CPI activist. However, CPM has expelled Divakaran from the party and has suspended Byju for six months.

The party has not announced any action against Jose, so far. The CPI has also not announced any action against Lalithan.

The probe team led by K S Sudarshan, crime branch SP, had earlier arrested five persons, including the bank secretary Sunilkumar. The total number of persons arrested has risen to nine. However, Kiran, who is suspected to be the key accused in the case, is yet to be arrested.

The arrested people were the director board members since 2011. The crime branch team found that the financial fraud had started in the bank in 2011. Huge loans were sanctioned in the names of relatives of the arrested director board members, the SP said in a press release.

The bank authorities granted loans to people staying outside the operational area by giving membership on fake addresses, and by inflating the price of the land submitted as surety. Multiple loans were sanctioned on the same property submitted as surety, and on land against which property attachment notices were issued, Sudarshan said.

There were altogether 13 members on the dissolved director board; among them, former vice-president T R Bharathan has died. The probe team had listed all the remaining 12 members of the director board, apart from the office staff, as accused in the fraud estimated to be Rs 100 crore.

The charge against the director board members is that they connived with office staff in illegally sanctioning loans and siphoning off bank funds. The probe team indicated that the remaining eight director board members are also likely to be arrested soon.



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Key accused in co-op bank fraud case nabbed, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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THRISSUR: The crime branch team probing the fraud at Karuvannur Cooperative Bank on Monday arrested the first accused in the case.

T R Sunilkumar, former secretary of the bank and son of Thaivalappil Ramakrishnan of Thaliyakkonm near Irinjalakuda, was taken into custody at 4:40pm from Parappur Road area near Amala Hospital in Thrissur, said sources in the probe team. There are reports that he had surrendered before the police, but the probe team insisted that they had taken him into custody.

The absconding Sunilkumar was the secretary of the bank for the last 21 years, and he was hiding at different places after the case was registered. He will be produced before the court on Tuesday, sources said.

A manhunt is on in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for remaining five accused, sources added.

Three of the accused have filed anticipatory bail applications at the principal district and sessions court here. The accused M Biju Kareem, who was the manager and C K Jilse, a bank accountant, and Reji Anilkumar, an accountant at the supermarket being run by the bank, filed the bail application soon after the fraud was exposed last month. The bail application had come up for hearing on July 21 and the prosecution was asked to file their responses, which was filed on August 6. The petitions have now been reserved for orders on Tuesday.

The probe team was facing criticisms from Congress and BJP for the delay in the arrest of the accused in the fraud. Congress and BJP leaders were alleging that the probe team was trying to protect the fraudsters because of their links with CPM.

However, the probe team expressed confidence that the remaining five will also be nabbed soon. They denied reports that one of the accused had gone abroad.



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Lookout notice in bank fraud case, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Thrissur: Crime branch team probing the scam in Karuvannur Cooperative Bank has initiated steps to issue lookout notices against six accused in the case. According to the crime branch sources the requests for issuing the lookout notices have been submitted to emigration authorities so that the accused can be prevented from going abroad. There are reports that one of the accused has already gone abroad.

The crime branch team has started collecting the details of the assets of the accused in the fraud. According to preliminary estimates the bank has incurred a loss of over Rs 100 crore in the scam. Authorities said the properties of the accused would be auctioned to recover part of the lost amount.

Three of the accused have filed their anticipatory bail applications at the principal district and sessions court.

M Biju Kareem, the bank manager and C K Jilse, the accountant, and Reji Anilkumar, an employee at a supermarket run by the bank, had filed their bail applications soon after the fraud was exposed last month.

The bail application came up for hearing on July 21 and the prosecution has been asked to file its response. The petition is likely to come up for hearing on August 6.

The probe team has been facing criticisms from Congress and BJP over the delay in the arrest of the accused.

They have been alleging that the probe team has been trying to protect the fraudsters because of their links with CPM.

The investigators have refuted the allegations, saying that they have been making all efforts to book the accused.

Can cops be faulted for pursuing accused: Court

The high court on Wednesday asked whether police can be faulted for pursuing the accused in the bank fraud case.

Justice K Haripal made the statement while considering an anticipatory bail plea filed by TR Sunil Kumar, secretary of Karuvannur bank and the first accused in the case. He had contended that he did not have a significant role in allowing loans and that his custodial interrogation is not required.

During the hearing, the applicant’s counsel submitted that the pre-arrest bail plea should be heard as early as possible as the applicant has been made an accused and police have following him around. The court asked how can the police be faulted for following an accused.

The applicant had contended that he was removed from the loan-sanctioning section on December 5, 2019 after department of cooperation began an enquiry into some alleged irregularities at the bank.

As the secretary, he has very limited role in sanctioning loans and it is the governing body that considers the applications and sanction loans, the petition said. It is due to the lapses on the part of the governing body that a probe was required and the banks employees have no part in it, the applicant said. The court will hear the case in detail on August 9.



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