Karuvannur bank fraud: ED raids premises of Kerala MLA Moideen, others
The raids are part of a money-laundering investigation linked to an alleged Rs 100-crore fraud in the CPI(M)-controlled Karuvannur Cooperative Bank
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday (August 22) raided the premises of CPI(M) MLA AC Moideen and some others as part of a money-laundering investigation linked to an alleged Rs 100-crore fraud in the party-controlled Karuvannur Cooperative Bank, official sources said.
The federal agency is covering about half a dozen premises in the state as part of the action being undertaken as per the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
The premises of Moideen, a former minister of the local self-government, and those linked to him are being searched for evidence of gathering details of "benami" assets, the sources said.
The case pertains to the ED's probe that on the instructions of CPI(M) district-level leaders and committee members who governed the bank, loans were allegedly disbursed "in cash" to non-member benamis by mortgaging properties of poor members without their knowledge and laundered to the benefit of the accused.
The agency suspects many such "benami" loans were disbursed, allegedly on the instructions of Moideen.
(With inputs from agencies)