Malappuram: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday morning conducted raids at the residence and offices of former MLA and Trinamool Congress leader P V Anvar as part of its probe into a money-laundering case linked to the Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC) loan scam. The searches are underway at Anvar’s park in Manjeri and at the residence of his aide Siyad.

According to reports, ED teams from Chennai, Kozhikode and Kochi units reached Anvar’s house at Othayi here around 6.30 am. Simultaneous searches were also carried out at the residences of Siyad and the KFC officials, the official said.

Officials said the TMC leader and his associate had availed loans amounting to ₹12 crore in 2015. Anvar is accused of pledging the same property documents to secure two separate loans, causing a loss of ₹22.30 crore to KFC due to default in repayment.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has already initiated a probe into the alleged fraud and named Anvar (58) as the fourth accused in the case. His associate Siyad, KFC Chief Manager Abdul Manaf, Deputy Manager Mini, and another official Muneer Ahammad are the other accused in the case.

The case
According to the findings of the vigilance and ED, KFC Malappuram sanctioned a loan of ₹7.5 crore to Anvar's driver Siyad for business purposes without properly assessing the collateral in 2015. Within months, loan repayments came to a halt. Later, two additional loans ₹3.05 crore and ₹1.56 crore were sanctioned to Anvar's firm, PVR Developers, against the same collateral on which the ₹7.5 crore loan had been granted earlier, an official said. KFC incurred a total loss of ₹22.30 crore due to the alleged loan misappropriation. 

Last month, the ED recorded the statement of Murugesh Narendran, the complainant in the VACB case. Anvar, a former MLA from Nilambur, parted ways with the LDF following differences and later contested the Assembly by-election on an All India Trinamool Congress ticket early this year.