KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has highlighted significant mismanagement within the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank, including accusations of tampering with computer records to erase entries, enabling the scam to remain undetected and unaddressed. According to the ED’s order dated October 13, members of the bank’s governing body, including the president, have acknowledged their lapses.
Prashant Kumar, the deputy director of ED, who ordered the attachment of properties belonging to loan defaulters, stated in his report that many of the loans, amounting to Rs 50 lakhs, were approved by the bank based on reports filed by bank employee Biju Karim, without the necessary recommendation from the governing body members and without the president’s approval. The report further highlighted lapses in the governing committee’s meeting minutes, with entries being signed without proper oversight, and the failure to include agenda items and previous meeting decisions.
The loan fraud was able to occur before the implementation of the computer system “Day Open and Day End” in June 2017, which made it possible for employees with deletion codes to manipulate ledger entries. Access to the banking system was shared among multiple individuals, making it challenging to trace unauthorised edits in personal ledgers. Important loan information, such as Gahan numbers, guarantor details, and collateral details, were reportedly altered or deleted post-entry, according to the report.
The investigation conducted by the ED has also revealed evidence of mismanagement in the society’s operations. The responsibility for this mismanagement extends to society officials, board and committee members, as well as the Registrar of the Cooperative Society, which acts as a regulator.
PERINGANDOOR BANK FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST ED BEFORE PMLA COURT
Kochi: The Peringandoor Service Cooperative Bank on Monday filed a complaint at the PMLA Court in Kochi against the ED for making false observations in its report and intimidating the bank’s secretary as part of the probe into Karuvannur case.
The bank came under ED radar as CPM leader P R Aravindakshan, who was arrested by the central agency, his mother and another prime accused Satheeshkumar P maintained accounts there. In a report filed at the court after recording the arrest of Aravindakshan, ED stated that there were transactions of around I62 lakh in his mother Chandramathi’s account maintained with the Peringandoor bank. Aravindakshan countered this before the court claiming that his mother has two accounts with Peringandoor bank but non of them have any amount as claimed by ED. To this, the ED took a stand that the account details were handed over to it by the bank secretary.