THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CBI has taken up as many as 4741 cases registered in connection with the over Rs 532 crore Popular Finance scam that rocked Kerala last year. As per the letter received from the CBI, as of September 30, 2021, assets of the Konni-based non-banking financial company including 15 vehicles had been confiscated in connection with the multi-crore scam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the Assembly.
Replying to a submission raised by Opposition leader V D Satheeshan, the Chief Minister said the agency informed the state government that they would intimate the details of the property assets attached in connection with the case later. Further, former Home Secretary Sanjay Kaul has been appointed as the competent authority-I as per the Central BUDS (Banning Of Unregulated Deposit Scheme ACT, 2019) Act and Gokul GR as the competent authority-II to deal with the case. The district collectors were also appointed as competent officers to assist them in the case, he said.
The state government has closed down all the branches of Popular Finance, seized their assets and frozen all kinds of transactions of the banking institution before handing over the case to the CBI based on a direction of the High Court. An additional district and sessions court has been designated as the competent court to handle the cases under the BUDS Act in each district, he said.
"The state government would also extend all possible cooperation in the investigation against the financial firm and would take steps to solve the issues of the duped depositors," said the Chief Minister. The fraud came to light after the depositors filed a cheating complaint against Thomas Daniel, managing director of the firm, for failing to repay the deposits.