CPM received crime proceeds in Kerala bank scam, says ED

KOCHI: Kerala's governing CPM is in possession of proceeds of crime in the Karuvannur bank fraud and it has been invested in immovable properties and credited to five accounts of the party in Karuvannur Service Co-operative Bank Ltd, Enforcement Directorate claimed on Saturday.
CPM received funds from beneficiaries as donations through the bank's governing body, the central agency said in a statement.
ED sources said the agency was carrying out PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) investigation in the case by considering the party as a respondent. Official sources said the party may be named as an accused in the next supplementary chargesheet to be filed in this case. If so, it will be the second political party to be arraigned as accused in a money laundering investigation after Aam Aadmi Party. AAP was recently named by the ED in the Delhi excise policy case.
ED confirmed in the statement that it has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 29.29 crore of various individuals and entities, including CPM's Thrissur district secretary, as part of the investigation. The attached assets include 18 immovable properties valued at Rs 28.65 crore, consisting of land and buildings in Kerala belonging to beneficiaries of the scam, the agency said. This includes an immovable property valued at Rs 10 lakh registered in the name of the CPM district secretary for its party office. The attached assets also include balances of Rs 63.62 lakh in eight bank accounts of CPM committees in Thrissur.
ED claimed in the statement that benami and illegal loans were sanctioned by the co-operative at the behest of the CPM Thrissur district committee. In return, the party district committee collected money from the beneficiaries.
The statement added that bogus loans were sanctioned by Karuvannur bank on the same property multiple times without the knowledge of society members. Benami loans were sanctioned to non-members against inflated property valuations in the names of other members and such loan funds were siphoned off and laundered by the beneficiaries, the ED claimed. The loan amounts were disbursed in cash to prevent a trail of the money, the statement said.
The total proceeds of crime attached so far in this case by the ED is Rs 117.78 crore. The chargesheet was filed by the agency in Nov 2023.