The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has announced a substantial crackdown in a money laundering investigation associated with the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank in Kerala. In a provisional order issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED has attached a total of 117 immovable properties, numerous bank deposits, and an array of vehicles, amounting to over Rs 57 crore.
The attached assets comprise 117 immovable properties, including land and buildings situated in Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Additionally, the assets include movable properties such as 11 vehicles, fixed deposits, and credit balances held in 92 bank accounts that belong to individuals directly involved in money laundering activities.
The investigation revealed that loans were illegally sanctioned and disbursed to these individuals and their benamis (proxies) from the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank without adequate collateral. This fraudulent scheme was allegedly perpetrated through a systematic conspiracy involving the bank’s secretary and committee members in collusion with the then bank manager.
Bogus loans were approved multiple times against the same properties without the knowledge of the society’s members. Moreover, benami loans were granted to non-members based on inflated property valuations in the names of other members, leading to the embezzlement and laundering of these funds by the implicated beneficiaries.
The ED had previously conducted raids in this case, which also targeted the properties of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) MLA and former cabinet minister A C Moideen. This extensive case of fraud, spanning from 2010 and involving a bank under CPI(M) control, has ignited a political controversy in Kerala.
The money laundering investigation originated from 16 First Information Reports (FIRs) filed by the Kerala Police (Crime Branch) in Thrissur. So far, the ED has arrested four individuals in connection with this case. The asset attachment signifies a major development in the ongoing probe into this alleged financial misconduct.
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