HC impleads ED in alleged financial fraud at cooperative bank

The Kerala High Court suo motu impleaded Enforcement Director in a case about an alleged financial fraud at Edamulackal Service Cooperative bank in Kollam district, on Tuesday.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Amit Rawal and Justice K V Jayakumar issued the order on a petition filed by Rajendran Unnithan, a 71-year-old cancer patient of Chadayamangalam seeking a directive to the secretary of the bank to release his fixed deposit amount which he had deposited from his retirement benefits. He said he was currently facing acute financial crisis.

The court observed that this was a classic case of aggrandisement at the level of the erstwhile committee of the society, who had not only squandered but played with the money of the depositors, who are being deprived of the fruit of their deposits. Out of many depositors, a few of them are facing not only financial hardship but medical difficulties like cancer and other diseases.

The government pleader informed the court that the siphoned-off money had been parked outside the country and that an FIR was registered in connection with the financial fraud.

The court then went on to implead the Enforcement Directorate, to examine the possibility of proceeding under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Published - December 03, 2024 08:37 pm IST