Over Rs 500 cr in loans siphoned through more than 100 accounts: ED on Andaman Co-op Bank Scam

Economic Times

2 days ago

The Enforcement Directorate investigating the Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank Ltd (ANSCBL) loan irregularities case involving Ex-Congress MP Kuldeep Rai Sharma has detected that more than Rs 500 crore in loans were fraudulently obtained through more than 100 accounts, an officer said on Friday.Speaking to PTI, a senior ED officer said, "This was the first ever search operation by the ED in the archipelago on July 31 and today (on August 1). During the search operation, our officers collected evidence which suggested that over Rs 500 crore loan amounts were fraudulently obtained through more than 100 loan accounts." He said, "Our officers conducted searches at various places, including the house of a former Congress MP and we have identified and recovered property documents of more than Rs 100 crore. Our investigation is going on." The ED team also visited the office of a chartered accountant in Port Blair on Friday to get some leads in the loan fraud case, the officer said.Meanwhile, once again, the bail prayer of Sharma was rejected by the CJM court in Port Blair on Friday, and he was sent to 14-day judicial custody.
On July 30, a team of ED officers from Kolkata arrived in Port Blair and on July 31, they visited the ANSCBL office at Maulana Azad Road and Sharma's house at Junglighat in Port Blair and examined various people. They seized important data related to bank loan irregularity cases, an official said.They also searched houses and offices of a few Port Blair traders and businessmen and former employees of ANSCBL, including managing director K Murugan.On May 15, an FIR was lodged against Sharma in connection with the same irregularities.Apart from Sharma, others named in the FIR include the cooperative bank's former chairman, board members and directors/officials of the bank and several beneficiaries.On July 18, the Andaman and Nicobar Police CID arrested the ex-Congress MP in connection with the ANSCBL loan irregularities case. Sharma, who formerly served as the chairman of ANSCBL, was arrested from a private hospital in Port Blair, where he was admitted due to health issues.There are allegations that the bank's managing committee overlooked the recommendations of the loan screening committee and ignored the CIBIL report and mandatory documents while sanctioning loans, a police source said.Police had received a complaint from the deputy registrar of the cooperative societies (HQs), which alleged gross irregularities in sanctioning loans to various people by the lender.
Since June 25, eight people have been arrested in connection with the scam, including ANSCBL managing director K Murugan, bank employee Kalaivanan and six others. PTI