Prime accused in multi-crore Karavannur Cooperative bank scam in police custody

Thiruv, (PTI): The prime accused in the multi-crore Karavannur Co-operative bank loan scam has been taken into custody, police said on Monday.

The accused is in police custody, a senior officer of the Crime Branch, which is investigating the case, told PTI.

An alleged loan scam, to the tune of over Rs 100 crore, has been reported in the CPI(M)-controlled Karavannur Co-Operative bank following which police registered a case against six bank officials and launched an investigation.

After several people including local customers raised apprehensions about the bank’s functioning, an audit had been conducted there recently, in which the charges were reportedly found to be true.

During the inspection, it was also found that loans were sanctioned on the property pledged by local customers without their knowledge and the loan amount was credited multiple times to the selected accounts.

The case was registered against the bank officials, including the secretary of the bank, who were already placed under suspension over the allegations.

Meanwhile, a plea has been moved in the Kerala High Court by a former accountant of the bank seeking handing over of the investigation in the case to CBI or the Enforcement Directorate on the ground that the state police cannot unearth the entire conspiracy as the bank is run by a committee which owes allegiance to the ruling party.

Prior to that, Kerala Minister for Cooperation and Registration V N Vasavan had said there was no need for a probe by CBI or any other central agency into the multi-crore loan scam as competent officers of his department and the police were investigating the matter. (PTI)