THRISSUR: Following the Karuvannur scam, an audit team was slated to assess cooperative banks across the state. Regrettably, audits have commenced solely in the Thrissur and Pathanamthitta districts. This audit, initiated in December remains unfinished. The Cooperative Department's auditors working in groups of three face a daunting challenge – there are insufficient auditors to cover the entire state.

For Thrissur district, 54 teams are needed but there's a glaring lack of auditors to complete ten teams. These teams are assigned in proportion to the number of cooperative banks in each district. Since the department insists that audits conducted without adequate staff won't yield effective results most districts are yet to begin.

Each audit team should ideally conduct up to 60 audits per month based on their capacity. However, Thrissur is under severe strain due to the shortage of auditors. There are also plans to direct fully-audited teams to locations without any audit coverage.

Last year, a Cooperative Department inspection uncovered frauds in 399 groups statewide. These frauds included unauthorized loans, embezzlement, unlawful appointments, stock deficiencies and misappropriation of government funds. This necessitates a comprehensive investigation.

The audit team must meticulously scrutinize mortgage documents, bank records and transactions. Approximately 250 questions across 21 categories need to be addressed by the banks. If any questions receive a negative response they require detailed investigation.

Number of fraudulent cases found by the Cooperative Department in different districts

Thiruvananthapuram......... 49

Kollam..........................42

Kottayam........................46

Ernakulam................33

Thrissur..........................66

Malappuram........................ 55

Palakkad................... 3

Total........................399