Corruption investigation against KM Abraham; FIR in CBI court; questioning to happen soon

KOCHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI has registered a case against the Chief Minister's Chief Principal Secretary and former Chief Secretary KM Abraham on the complaint of amassing wealth beyond his means. Sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act have been charged.

The action is as per the High Court order. Abraham, who is also the CEO of KIIFB, will be questioned soon. The FIR was submitted to the Thiruvananthapuram CBI court today. The court will consider it on Monday.

The complaint is that KM Abraham amassed wealth beyond his means during his tenure as the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) in 2015. The High Court had ordered a CBI investigation on the 21st of this month. Justice K Babu's order was on a petition by public activist Jomon Puthanpurakkal. The CBI had sent a letter seeking documents from the Vigilance, which was investigating the case in the same complaint, but it was not received. The FIR was registered today after Jomon Puthanpurakkal complained to the CBI SP in Kochi that a case was not being registered even after two weeks of the High Court order. The DySP of the Kochi CBI unit is in charge of the investigation.

The investigation will cover a luxury flat worth three crores in Mumbai, a flat worth one crore in Jagathy, Thiruvananthapuram, and a shopping complex worth eight crores in Kadappakada, Kollam. There are loans on the flat in Mumbai and the flat in Jagathy, Thiruvananthapuram. The shopping complex in Kollam was not included in the asset disclosure. The savings before KM Abraham became the Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department in 2015 will also come under investigation.

Clean chit seven years ago

KM Abraham was given a clean chit by the Vigilance in 2018. The allegations were found to be baseless. The investigation was conducted when Jacob Thomas was the Vigilance Director. The search at Abraham's house became controversial. Jomon Puthanpurackal approached the High Court against the clean chit.