ED summons CPI(M) MP Radhakrishnan in Karuvannur in PMLA case

Kochi: The Enforcement Directorate has summoned CPI(M) MP K Radhakrishnan for questioning on March 15 in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank, official sources said on Thursday.

The 60-year-old MP from Alathur is understood to have been asked to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

The money laundering case stems from at least 16 FIRs registered by the Kerala Police Crime Branch at Thrissur in July 2021 on charges of alleged irregularities in the CPI(M)-controlled bank worth Rs 150 crore.

The ED claimed that its probe found that "bogus" loans were sanctioned by the cooperative bank multiple times against the same property without the knowledge of the members of the cooperative society.

Benami loans were sanctioned to non-members against "inflated" property valuations in the names of other members and such funds were "siphoned off" and "laundered" by the accused beneficiaries, the agency had earlier said.

It conducted raids in this case in August-September 2023 and arrested four people, apart from attaching assets worth Rs 117 crore.

The ED had also claimed in a press statement issued in January that benami loans were disbursed by the bank on the "instructions" of CPI(M) district committee members and the party, in turn, received "donations" in its coffers from such beneficiaries.

The CPI(M) has rejected the ED allegations and said it will fight them legally and politically.