A remand report filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the court in the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank scam points to the involvement of many prominent personalities in it.
Terming the Karuvannur bank scam as an organised crime, the ED said the undue influence of political parties and certain individuals in the bank’s administration led to the scam. The accused organized themselves to commit the offence that pushed ordinary people into financial crisis and suicide, the report says.
The ED had informed the court that Aravindakshan has a fixed deposit of 50 lakhs in Karuvannur Bank. Apart from this, Aravindakshan’s 90-year-old mother, whose monthly income is a pension of Rs. 1600 only, has a fixed deposit of Rs 63 lakh in Peringandur Bank.
The ED alleged that the fraud took place in Karuvannur Bank with the knowledge of high-profile figures in politics and the police. However, the ED’s remand report does not name any high-profile figures.
It was P R Aravindakshan, a local CPI-M leader and councillor of the Vadakkanchery municipality, who plotted the scheme to swindle money from the cooperative bank.
Aravindakshan even issued death threats to those who discovered the fraud and also to those who offered information to the ED.
The ED also says that Satheesh Kumar, the prime accused in the case and Aravindakshan travelled abroad together. Aravindakshan has also travelled abroad with a person named Chacko. The ED is also probing the sale of property in the name of Aravindakshan’s wife for Rs 85 lakh.
Meanwhile, VB Sajilin, a Vadanappally native, on Thursday alleged that CPI-M leader and vice-president of Kerala Bank MK Kannan received a commission of Rs 3.5 lakh for helping him to avail a loan from Thrissur District Cooperative Bank.