Thrissur: The Enforcement Directorate team probing the multi-crore scam at the Karuvannur Cooperative bank has received secret information that those who availed personal loans from the bank on a recommendation by former minister and CPM state committee member A C Moideen had indeed pledged fake gold jewellery, a source close to the development said.
The agency, though, is yet to commence the verification of the jewellery kept in the bank locker.
The investigation team has received evidence pointing to direct links between the suspects and the former minister, the source said.
Of the names mentioned by the ED in its statement, C M Rahim and M K Shiju are relatives of Biju Kareem, former manager of the bank and second accused in the Crime Branch case.
The ED has collected a photo of Moideen inaugurating a supermarket store launched by these two suspects along with their wives as critical evidence.
During interrogation, Moideen also confirmed to his connections with Satheesh Kumar, the third person named in the ED’s statement, they added. In fact, Moideen was holding the charge as the Minister of the Cooperation Department when the Karuvannur fraud first came to light. He was also the first person to receive a tip-off on the fraud. As the CPM District Secretary, he had also received a complaint lodged by M V Suresh, a party member, regarding the fraud.
Meanwhile, the ED has also stumbled on evidence regarding the defrauding of loans by inflating the value of materials used for pledging. A gold vendor, who is close to Moideen, reportedly received Rs 15 crore. There are also allegations about Bijoy, a Commission agent raking in Rs 30 crore, a portion of which was used for the construction of a resort.
The ED is also examining details of the dealings between Bijoy and the bank manager Biju.
The ED carried out a 22-hour-long raid at Moideen’s house on Tuesday morning. Raids were also held at the residences of PP Kiran, CM Rahim, MK Shaiju and P Satheesh Kumar. The raid was held on the basis of an FIR opened by the Kerala Police, the officials informed.
The central agency has found that PP Kiran has received Rs 25 crore through fraud. Several of those who had siphoned off money through the fraud later repaid it to the bank. A handful of others, including Kiran, however, have been unable to do this.
The bank fraud came to light a few years ago when several borrowers received recovery notices for amounts greater than they had borrowed. The borrowers approached the Registrar of Cooperatives and a probe unearthed a multi-crore scam. The irregularities at the bank are pegged at Rs 300 crore, but the government estimates it to be only Rs 150 crore.
