HC grants bail to 2 accused in Angamaly Co-op scam case

Time of India

a day ago

Kochi: Kerala high court granted bail to P C Tomy and Elsy Varghese, the fifth and twelfth accused in the Angamaly Urban Co-operative Society scam case, involving an alleged misappropriation of Rs 55 crore from the bank.
Justice A Badharudeen allowed their bail petitions and directed that they be released on executing a bond of Rs 50,000 each, with two solvent sureties for the like amount. The court also imposed conditions, including that the petitioners must appear before the investigating officer as and when directed and also appear before the officer every Monday between 9am and 10am for three months or until the investigation is complete, whichever is earlier.
The prosecution alleged that Tomy and Varghese, members of the Society's managing committee, abused their positions by sanctioning and renewing fake loans using the same documents in the names of fictitious persons, thereby causing undue loss to the Society and misappropriating Rs 55 crore. In June, a high court bench had dismissed their pre-arrest bail pleas and directed them to surrender before the investigating officer.
Accordingly, Tomy and Varghese were arrested on June 25 and June 24, respectively.
While considering their present bail pleas, the court observed that the allegations were serious and required a thorough investigation. However, taking into account that the petitioners had been in custody since June 24 and 25, had no criminal antecedents and considering the investigation progress, the court found that further custody was unnecessary. Accordingly, the court allowed their bail applications.
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