The Kerala police on Sunday registered a cheating case against retired Kerala High Court Judge, Justice CN Ramachandran Nair, for allegedly swindling Rs 34 lakh in the notorious Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund scam.

Justice (retired) Ramachandran Nair, who was a trustee of the National NGO Confederation, has been named as the third accused in the case. Sai Gramam Global Trust chairman KN Anand Kumar and Anandhu Krishnan have been listed as the first and second accused, respectively, in the case registered at Perinthalmanna police station based on a complaint from the president of Angadippuram Kisan Service Society (KSS), the implementing agency of the scheme. According to the complaint, the trio collected Rs 34 lakh from KSS as instalments.

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The police have filed charges under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the accused.

Reacting to the development, Justice CN Ramachandran Nair said that the police registered the case against him without even conducting a preliminary investigation. He alleged that the police action was based on false accusations.

The CSR scam, also known as a half-price scam, pertains to the alleged extortion of money from multiple individuals through promises of scooters, laptops, and other household appliances at half price, falsely claiming to utilise Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.

The police said Anandhu Krishnan, the prime accused in the case, used more than 200 NGOs to execute fraudulent half-price schemes for various products such as scooters, laptops, home appliances, etc. Anandhu Krishnan, 26, a resident of Idukki, allegedly cheated people and charitable societies across the state by promising to deliver two-wheelers, laptops and household appliances such as water purifiers and sewing machines at half the price, claiming that he was procuring them through corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds of big private firms.  He also operated nearly 19 bank accounts through which transactions to the tune of Rs 450 crore were done in the past several months, an officer privy to the investigation said.

“The modus operandi was that Anandhu Krishnan tied up with several charitable trusts as the coordinator of the National NGO Federation and promised them that he would offer two-wheelers and other products at half the price. The trusts would help him in identifying beneficiaries, pooling funds, and giving publicity to the whole initiative. Krishnan went on to cheat people as well as the charitable trusts by failing to fulfil the promise,” a police officer said.

Even as the police investigation progresses into the CSR fund scam, complaints are still flooding in from across the state. According to Ernakulam Rural Police, about 200 complaints have been received from the district in connection with the fraud. According to sources, more than 750 complaints have been received in various police stations in Kottayam alone. Complaints have also been filed in Kannur, Malappuram, Idukki, and Kasaragod districts. Kannur City Police Commissioner P Nithin Raj said that around 500 complaints have been lodged within the city limits alone. The Kannur Town Police recently registered a case against Congress leader Laly Vincent in connection with the scheme.

The number of complaints is expected to surge even further, considering that more than 7,000 people had enrolled in the scheme offered by the company led by Anandhu Krishnan, who was arrested by the police in connection with the fraudulent scheme.

The police sources said Anandhu Krishnan had formed shell companies and partnerships for financial fraud. The most important of these was a limited liability partnership company called Social Bee, which was headquartered in Girinagar, Kochi. The working capital of the company is shown as Rs 1 lakh in the documents. However, the police suspect that Anandhu Krishnan has amassed crores under the guise of this company alone. This company has been closed since Anandhu Krishnan’s arrest.

Meanwhile, the police team probing the CSR funds scam took the main accused, Anandhu Krishnan, to his offices in Erattupetta, Idukki, and Kolapra as part of evidence collection on Saturday. Earlier, a court in Muvattupuzha had remanded Anandhu in police custody for five days.

In this connection, the Perinthalmanna police registered a case against IUML MLA Najeeb Kanthapuram based on a complaint lodged by a 24-year-old woman from Pulamanthole in Malappuram district. According to the police, the MLA’s secretary has also been booked on the same charges.

The Perinthalmanna police also registered two more cases in connection with the fraud, including one based on a complaint lodged by Kanthapuram himself.

In his complaint, the MLA alleged that Rs 1.88 crore had been swindled from a charitable organisation in his constituency after promising laptops, two-wheelers, and sewing machines.

He accused functionaries of the National NGO Confederation, including Anandhu Krishnan, the key accused arrested in the case, of orchestrating the scam in 2024.