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Kerala Congress chief named 2nd accused in Monson Mavunkal fraud case
The Kerala Police Crime Branch named the senior Congress leader in its charge sheet filed before the Ernakulam additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) court
The Congress party president of Kerala K Sudhakaran was on Tuesday named as the second accused in the financial fraud case linked to fake antiques dealer Monson Mavunkal, said officials familiar with the matter. Mavunkal is the first accused in the case.
The Kerala Police Crime Branch named the senior Congress leader in its charge sheet filed before the Ernakulam additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) court.
Sudhakaran has reportedly been charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy for allegedly receiving ₹10 lakh from Mavunkal and aiding false representations about the dealer and the fake artefacts that he claimed to be authentic to several people.
The complainants alleged that they had paid Mavunkal ₹25 lakh at his residence in Kochi in the presence of Sudhakaran. Photos of Sudhakaran and Mavunkal appearing together had also surfaced on social media in 2021.
The Congress leader, however, termed the allegations “baseless” and has stuck to the argument that he had visited Mavunkal as the latter had claimed to be a cosmetologist. Sudhakaran was not available for comment following Tuesday’s development.
Sudhakaran was arrested by the crime branch in June last year in connection but the Kerala high court granted him bail. He had last year also appeared for questioning before the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has been probing allegations of money laundering in the same case.
Mavunkal, who was arrested by the crime branch in September 2021, is accused of swindling ₹10 crore from several people. He allegedly convinced them that the proceeds, amounting to ₹2.62 lakh crore, from the sale of antiques to a royal family based in the Gulf was frozen by the central government authorities and that he needed money to clear the procedures.
The fake antique pieces that Mavunkal displayed in his custody included the throne of Tipu Sultan, the Staff of Moses, the Bhagavad Gita of Chhatrapati Shivaji and a relic of St Anthony of Padua.
Mavunkal was sentenced to life imprisonment last year by a Pocso court in Kochi for raping a minor girl and is currently in jail.
Reacting to Sudhakaran being named in the charge sheet, his party colleague VD Satheesan said, “The police are hunting the opposition. We do not expect anything else from them. Initially, they tried to arrest him (Sudhakaran) in the guise of taking his statement. The high court granted him anticipatory bail. We will face this legally. Everyone knows that he has no role in it.”
The development comes ahead of Sudharakan’s likely candidature from Kannur as the Congress candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He is the sitting MP from the constituency.
