Karuvannur scam: ED serves another notice to MM Varghese, asks him to appear for questioning on April 29

KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a notice to CPM Thrissur District Secretary MM Varghese to appear for questioning in the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank fraud case. He is instructed to appear at the Kochi office next Monday. Varghese has been served three notices before but he told ED that he could not attend due to his election campaign duties. Due to this, the ED suggested him to appear after the election campaign.

Varghese is being questioned about secret accounts controlled by the CPM in the Karuvannur Co-operative Bank and the involvement of CPM leaders in granting benami loans. Meanwhile, the ED had informed on April 16 that the property and money seized from the accused in the case would be returned to the defrauded investors. ED confiscated properties worth Rs 108 crore from 54 accused.

Mahadevan, an investor, had approached a special court dealing with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kochi, seeking relief from the seized money. In the affidavit submitted by the ED in this petition, it was informed that there is no obstacle to pay. Mahadevan has a deposit of Rs. 33,27,500 in Karuvannur Bank.

The ED has found that the accused conspired to launder Rs 300 crores at Karuvannur Bank by forging documents. According to the ED's affidavit, the money taken from investors were invested in real estate and business sectors.