E-Paper
ED raids CPI(M) MLA Moideen in 100 cr cooperative bank fraud case in Kerala
ED is probing allegations that loans were approved fraudulently by the CPI(M)-controlled Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank and disbursed in the form of cash to non-member benamis without proper collaterals
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday carried out searches at premises of former minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) legislator AC Moideen and those linked to him in connection with a money laundering probe into the alleged ₹100-crore fraud at the Karuvannur Service Co-operative Bank in Kerala, sources said.
Officials of the central agency from Kochi raided around half a dozen premises across the state starting 7am including the residence of Moideen in Wadakkanchery in Thrissur district. The ED officials were accompanied by paramilitary personnel.
Moideen, currently the MLA from Kunnamkulam constituency in Thrissur district, is a state committee member of the CPI(M) and handled the portfolios of local self-government, industries, sports, co-operation and tourism in the state Cabinet between 2016 and 2021. He could not be reached for a comment.
ED is probing allegations that loans were approved fraudulently by the CPI(M)-controlled cooperative bank and disbursed in the form of cash to non-member benamis without proper collaterals. Whether such bogus loans were approved with the knowledge of Moideen is being investigated.
The ED probe under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) came after the Crime Branch of the Kerala police registered at least 16 first information reports (FIRs) in different stations in Thrissur district in connection with the case.
In December last year, ED said that it attached assets to the tune of ₹30.7 crore of Bijoy AK, a commission agent of the Karuvannur bank. The assets included 20 immovable properties, two vehicles, ₹5.48 lakh in cash seized from his house and ₹35.86 lakh from his bank accounts and those of the firm. The agency said that he was disbursed a loan to the tune of ₹26.6 crore without any collateral due to ‘systematic conspiracy hatched and perpetuated by the secretary and committee members of the bank.’
The bank “was also under scrutiny of Registrar of Co-operative Societies in Thiruvananthapuram. After FIR was registered in July 2021, the Registrar in their audit found diversion of more than ₹100 crore,” the agency said last year.
In July 2021, after the fraud came to light, the CPI(M) took action against 13 members including expelling four, including the president of the bank. Others were suspended and demoted.
