ED names Kerala CPM units laundering scam accused
NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate making Kerala district units of CPM accused in a money laundering case arising from embezzlement ofRs 150 crore from Thrissur-based Karuvannur Cooperative Bank is only the second instance of a political formation being named as an accused in a case.
ED has made the CPM units accused in the latest prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed before a special court. The other accused include senior party netas from the state, including Lok Sabha MP K Radhakrishnan, who was interrogated last month.
CPM has become the second party (or its district unit) to be made an accused after AAP. AAP was made an accused after its senior neta Manish Sisodia, while seeking Supreme Court relief, argued that since his party, that was alleged to have received bribes, had not been made an accused, he could not be booked under PMLA.
In both the cases, ED has treated the parties (AAP and CPM) like a company defined under section 70 of PMLA and booked them for laundering money or receiving bribes.
According to officials aware of the investigation, rather than the central unit of CPM, it is the local district units that have been named in the chargesheet, as they, through their secretaries, opened accounts to receive funds from the "proceeds of crime".
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ED in its investigation report said the CPM units in question maintained at least 25 undisclosed accounts with several cooperative societies in the name of area committees, with a total balance of Rs 1.7 crore and fixed deposits of Rs 64 lakh, as of Nov 30, 2023.
Many of these bank accounts were not disclosed by the party. "On perusal of the balance sheet, it was noticed that the 25 bank accounts of 17 area committees of CPM had not been disclosed.
The actual deposits in these undisclosed accounts over the past 10 years is projected to be more than Rs 100 crore, since the said figures are only the closing balances as of Nov 30, 2023," a source said.
The audited balance sheets of CPM, with partial disclosures, were submitted to ED by then Thrissur district committee secretary MM Varghese during his questioning.
"Undisclosed accounts have been opened by local committee secretaries in the name of CPM Porathissery North local committee (a/c no 5578); CPM party building fund (a/c no 9513), CPM Porthissery South local committee (a/c no 8858); CPM area conference souvenir (a/c no 5580) in Karuvannur Service Co-operative bank," ED had earlier stated in an affidavit before the Kerala high court during a related case hearing.
ED has found the opening of the party bank accounts in violation of bye-laws of Societies Act as this was done without granting any membership. The sources of deposits in these bank accounts, according to the ED probe, were party levy, party fund, election fund, building fund, collection from beneficiary loanees who were sanctioned illegal loans from the cooperative bank and contributions by nominated board members, who, in turn, collected funds from loanees.
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