Karuvannur bank scam: CPI(M) leader rejects Congress' allegations against him

CPI(M) leader P K Biju on Sunday rejected the allegations of Congress leader Anil Akkara over the Karuvannur bank scam case and said the accusations have come up only to tarnish his image.

Akkara, the former Wadakkancherry MLA, had on Saturday alleged that a former MP, mentioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its report connected with a probe into the Rs 150 crore Karuvannur Cooperative bank scam, was P K Biju.

Akkara had also alleged that the prime accused in the scam, Satheesh Kumar, was the mentor of Biju.

The Congress leader had also claimed that Biju was part of the CPI(M)'s commission appointed to probe the scam and that he had not mentioned anything against Satheesh Kumar in his report.

Denying the accusation, Biju in a press meet held here today said the allegations were condemnable.

"He is making personal allegations to tarnish my image. As an MP, I have lived in rented houses and all the transactions were made through bank accounts," Biju said.

He was responding to the allegation that Kumar was funding Biju when he was an MP.

Akkara had alleged that Biju had received from Kumar a share out of the bank fraud.

The CPI(M) leader today denied all the allegations and claimed that the party had not appointed any commission to probe the scam.

Countering Biju's claim, Akkara later in the day, posted on Facebook an image of a document which says Biju was part of a two-member team to look into the functioning of two cooperative banks including Karuvannur.

Two accused-- Satheesh Kumar and Kiran P P-- were earlier arrested by the ED in the Karuvannur Cooperative bank scam, which triggered a political row in Kerala recently.

According to the ED, Kiran embezzled Rs 24.5 crore from the CPI(M)-controlled bank and shared over Rs 14 crore to Kumar.

The ED also alleged before the court that Kumar is the kingpin.

The agency claimed that Kiran embezzled Rs 24.5 crore through 51 benami transactions with the help of Kumar.

The ED has been questioning some people allegedly involved in the case since it conducted raids on their premises, including that of CPI(M) MLA, A C Moideen's, last month.

The agency had claimed that its probe had found that 'on the instructions of certain persons, who were district-level leaders and committee members of a certain political party and governed the bank, loans were disbursed by the bank manager through the agent in cash to non-member benamis by mortgaging properties of poor members without their knowledge and laundered to the benefit of the accused'.

The premises of Kiran, Satheesh Kumar, Rahim C M and Shiju M K, were earlier raided by the agency.

This case of alleged fraud, beginning in 2010, in the Thrissur-based Karuvannur Cooperative Bank triggered a political row in Kerala two years ago.

The money laundering case stems from 16 FIRs registered by the Kerala Police (Crime Branch) in Thrissur.

The ED had carried out similar raids in August last year at six locations, including a branch of the bank located in Irinjalakuda, Thrissur. It had attached assets worth Rs 30.70 crore of a commission agent of the bank, Bijoy A K.

After the Kerala Police registered the FIR in July 2021, the registrar in their audit found 'diversions' of more than Rs 100 crore, the ED had said last year.