MALAPPURAM: Stepping up the attack on senior Muslim League leader PK Kunhalikutty, former higher education minister and Thavanur MLA KT Jaleel on Monday came out with a report on illegal fund transactions in the A R Nagar Service Cooperative Bank, prepared by the inspection wing under the state government’s cooperative department.
While explaining the major findings to reporters in Malappuram, Jaleel said the inspection wing discovered that the bank carried out illegal transactions to the tune of `1,021 crore in the past 10 years. He alleged Kunhalikutty and former bank secretary V K Harikumar must have managed these illegal transactions. He also said the cooperative bank may soon be fined `1,021 crore for the illegal transactions.
“In such an event, the bank will fall into a deep financial crisis. In order to save the bank from the crisis, the state government should take initiatives to seize the fine of `1,021 crore from Kunhalikutty and Harikumar,” he said. Jaleel also criticised Kunhalikutty’s son Hasique Pandikadavath. He said the Reserve Bank of India had initiated an investigation into Hasique’s `3-crore deposit in the bank.
“The deposit is illegal as NRE and NRO deposits are not allowed in the bank. Besides, he submitted the fixed-deposit application only for Rs 1 crore. Also, he received the interest of his deposit by hand instead of transferring the amount to a savings account, which is illegal. Hasique should pay `1.4 crore fine to release his deposit from the bank. However, with the aid of Kunhalikutty, they are now trying to release his deposit by just accepting `35 lakh,” he said.
Further, he said that Kunhalikutty and Harikumar created 862 fake accounts in the bank to deposit black money and turn it white. “The bank keeping the money diverted from the Titanium and Malabar cements scams cannot be ruled out. The bank authorities denying permission earlier to customs officials to check some accounts is an indication that the bank received money from gold smuggling,” he said.
Though the report did not name Kunhalikutty, a detailed investigation into the bank’s transactions will surely lead to him, Jaleel said.
“I will request the chief minister and the cooperation minister for a detailed investigation. I will also file a complaint before the Enforcement Directorate and the Reserve Bank of India against the black money dealings and foreign transactions of the bank,” he said. Meanwhile, a source close to Kunhalikutty termed the allegations baseless.
“The report of the cooperative department might be against the former bank secretary V K Harikumar. The report has nothing against Kunhalikutty. Harikumar has connections with CPM. IUML — not Kunhalikutty —will soon give sound replies to the allegations levelled by Jaleel,” the source said.