THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Top officials of the cooperation department have been fully aware of the large-scale financial fraud committed by employees and directors of Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank (No. 112) near Irinjalakuda in Thrissur at least since October last year. The silence of the cooperation department for over nine months despite having solid evidence to act against the bank raises questions about the involvement of senior officials and political leaders in the scam.
On Monday, the Irinjalakuda police registered an FIR in the loan fraud based on an initial estimate of `100 crore siphoned off by a nexus of employees of the bank by forging documents and handed over the probe to the Crime Branch. The bank was ruled by a 13-member director board led by CPM local leader K K Divakaran.On August 31, 2019, the joint registrar of cooperation (Thrissur) ordered a department-level probe into the functioning of the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank after receiving a few complaints alleging financial mismanagement and loan fraud.
A three-member team, comprising Irinjalakuda assistant registrar Omana K L and inspectors Resmi P C and Preetha V V, carried out a detailed inquiry and submitted a comprehensive report to the joint registrar on October 10, 2020. The report was soon forwarded to the registrar of cooperative societies as the findings were of very serious nature. However, there had been no action from the department till this week.
The report of the probe panel led by Omana recommended further probe by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.
“The asset details of bank employees require detailed scrutiny. The hard disk of the server of the bank needs forensic examination,” the committee recommended. “During the preliminary investigation, we found that serious financial malpractices, theft, cheating and forging of documents had been committed. Only expert officials and competent agencies can unearth the irregularities completely,” the report noted. However, this report didn’t reach the VACB director.
On Wednesday, Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan said all accused in the bank fraud case would be brought before law. Declaring that nobody will be spared, the minister promised an impartial inquiry.
“We are planning to bring in legislation to check such malpractices. A fool-proof audit system will also be put in place so that any deviation from rules will be detected immediately,” Vasavan told reporters in Kottayam. Former cooperation minister Kadakampally Surendran was unavailable for comments.