Kochi: A Special Court in Kochi has summoned K Radhakrishnan, MP, A C Moideen, MLA, M M Varghese, CPM district secretary of Thrissur and 25 others to appear before the court on July 4 in connection with the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank scam.
The court observed that the accused should undergo trial as there is prima facie evidence against them in the case, Asianet News reported.
T R Sunil Kumar, CPM local committee member, is accused number one. A probe by the cooperative Department found a major scam Rs 108 crore in which six accused were booked. Later, the case was handed over to the crime Branch which framed charges against 31 accused.Â
Sunil Kumar, Manager Biju Kareem, Biju’s wife, Chief accountant C K Jills’s, and his wife are among the accused. The order was passed by the court after hearing the accused under Section 223(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Proceedings had already been initiated against 55 accused earlier. With the supplementary complaint, the total number of accused in the case has risen to 83.
The Karuvannur scam is a multi-crore financial fraud unearthed at the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank in Thrissur in Kerala. The accused mainly CPM leaders are accused of disbursing illegal loans on fake applications, forging signatures, and siphoning over ₹300 crore through benami transactions.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) took up the investigation in the scam in August 2021 by invoking the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The scam surfaced in July 2021.
