Thrissur: Pazhayyannur police have registered a case against an employee of the Thiruvilwamala Service Cooperative Bank for allegedly swindling Rs 2.43 crore from the financial institution.
The case was registered following a complaint received from the bank secretary Vinod Kumar against head clerk Chakkachankadu Kottattil Suneesh. The fraud was detected during a recent audit by the Cooperation department.
According to police and bank sources, Suneesh forged documents, faked signatures and pledged property documents to divert the funds. “Suneesh diverted Rs 2.43 crore by forging the documents and signatures and pledging property deeds of 16 depositors. Incidentally, almost all of them are his close relatives and friends. The moment we came to know about the discrepancy, a show-cause notice was served to Suneesh. He was also suspended from service immediately. As we were not satisfied with the reply received from him, Suneesh was removed from the service. We have registered a case with the Pazhayannur police now,” said a senior officer from the bank, requesting anonymity.
At the same time, sources said the fraud came to the notice of the officials when some of the investors approached the bank for withdrawing their deposits.
On Saturday, an urgent meeting of the board of directors was held in which the bank secretary was directed to give a detailed explanation and the steps to be taken to solve issue. The secretary is learnt to have assured the board that he would soon approach the court against the accused Suneesh.
The accused head clerk has also served previously as the in-charge of the Pambady and Naduvathupara branches of the cooperative bank, run by the UDF-led governing body.
