HC intervenes in Karuvannur fraud case; directs ED to handover documents to crime branch

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court directed the enforcement directorate to handover the documents of Karuvannur bank fraud case to the crime branch. The documents should be handed over to the chief investigation officer. The court also directed the crime branch to complete the examination of the documents in two months.

The ED, which is investigating the black money transactions in Karuvannur, had taken the documents into custody. The crime branch is investigating fraud cases in Karuvannur. The ED officials were not ready to provide the documents taken into custody to the crime branch. The ED refused to provide the documents citing the possibility of subverting the case. The high court has now intervened in it.

The ED is planning to make prominent CPM leaders including Thrissur district secretary M M Varghese, accused in the case. The ED confirmed that the CPM received its share from illegal loans and with that money bought land in the name of the district secretary to build the party office. ED also confiscated the three cents bought for Rs 10 lakh per cent. Rs 63.62 lakh in eight undisclosed accounts of various local committees of the CPM have also been confiscated.

The important finding was that the loans were sanctioned as benami and illegally by the secretary, the governing body and the then bank manager with the permission of the CPM district committee. Benami loans were given even to non-members of the bank at higher rates than the value of the property given as collateral. The ED has stated that more than one member had committed the fraud.