THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Crime Branch team said that fraudulent dealings and the accumulation of wealth by the accused in the BSNL cooperative investment fraud case are shocking. Officials said that BSNL cooperative society clerk AR Rajeev, the close confidante of main accused AR Gopinath, earned crores of money through illegal dealings.

AR Rajeev, who started as a peon at the age of 17 with a monthly salary of Rs 500, became a clerk three decades later. The crime branch officials have found that Rajeev has business deals worth crores in the city and outside. It was Gopinathan, the president of the cooperative society till 2017, who promoted Rajeev to the post of clerk. The crime branch reckons that they can unravel the mystery of the fraud by finding out how Rajeev, who was getting a salary of Rs 20,000 per month, became a business owner worth crores in the last 33 years. The probe team has received hints regarding the Benami establishments of Rajeev and his business partner Hari. These firms are in the names Sreekandeshwaram Trade Links and RNH (Rajeev, Narayanan, Hari). The accused used to buy luxury cars and give them on rent. They acquired several flats and properties in various prominent places in the city. The probe team will investigate the establishments run by the accused.

AR Gopinathan was the president of the BSNL Engineers Cooperative Society till 2017. Other members of the Director Board saw Rajeev as Gopinathan's confidante.

Rajeev was a key player in swindling the fixed deposits of the society through forged documents and deceiving the cooperative department by producing fixed deposit documents of 20 crores annually during the auditing. Rajeev, who knew the money transactions and other investment information of the society by heart, received crores as a reward. The crime branch officials believe that Rajeev used this money as the capital for his business establishments, vehicle dealings and real estate business. Several people, including Action Council activists, reached the Crime Branch office after learning about Rajeev's arrest. Rajeev's relatives are saying that they did not know anything about Rajeev's role in the fraud. The officials believe that they can get more information after getting Rajeev and Hari in custody.