Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigating the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank scam said that the prime accused, P. Satheeshkumar, is a benami of a former Member of Parliament (MP) and a sitting MLA of Thrissur district. Satheeshkumar suspects the 100 crore black money transferred through Karuvannur Bank came from terrorists. The information from a terrorist detained recently also points to terror funding using this bank.
National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested the Islamic terrorist, a native of Thrissur, from Chennai. According to the terrorist, about ten accomplices with him have already escaped abroad. Top political leaders and top police officers facilitated the escape. These terrorists then poured crores of money as compensation. Chief police officers and politicians received this money.
The ED found that Karuvannur Bank’s software was extensively modified and made to run 24 hours a day to carry out the fraud. Bank software with one or two administrators has expanded to 21 admins, creating an opportunity for money laundering. A retired bank officer and a housekeeping staff handled round-the-clock transactions as admins.
Usually, the software will work from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and be disabled automatically. This method has been changed, and it can be operated at home, even at night. So, the receipt and transfer of black money were done at night as well.
The money laundering was done through the accounts of many regular account holders. These account holders were unaware of this fraud as the bank’s online system was not implemented. Crores of black money transactions on one side and crores of loan fraud on the other co-occurred.
Since black money was pouring in, the accused thought there would be ample amounts to show in the bank accounts of genuine customers. Suddenly, the flow of black money stopped, and the loan fraud came to light. During the ED investigation regarding the loan fraud, it was found that black money transactions of around 100 crore rupees took place in Karuvannur Bank.
Satheeshkumar is allegedly the benami of a former MP and a sitting MLA. He alone has made transactions of 500 crores in this bank. Satheeshumar was the main link in fake loan scams and black money transactions in the bank.
Despite two years of investigation by Kerala police and the crime branch, the inquiry did not reach Satheeshumar. The crime branch also allegedly covered up the matter of laundering crores of black money and sending it abroad. These things came out during the ED investigation. As this became clear to the rank and file, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) leadership trying to justify the deception is ashamed.
Information leaking from within the party has also shocked the leadership. In this context, CPM State Secretary M.V. Govindan openly warned not to betray the party at the district secretariat meeting in Thrissur.
