ED questions CPI(M) MP Radhakrishnan in Karuvannur bank money laundering case

Kochi | The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday questioned Kerala CPI(M) MP K Radhakrishnan as part of its probe into alleged irregularities in Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank, sources said.

The 60-year-old legislator from Alathur Lok Sabha seat deposed before the federal probe agency at its office here to record his statement in the case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), sources said.

The MP was summoned last month but he sought more time to depose citing his engagement during Parliament session in Delhi that ended last week.

The money laundering probe stems from at least 16 FIRs registered by the Kerala Police crime branch at Thrissur in July 2021 on charges of alleged irregularities worth Rs 150 crore in the CPI(M)-controlled bank.

The agency claimed its probe found that "bogus" loans were sanctioned by the cooperative bank on "same property multiples times" without the knowledge of the members of the cooperative society.

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 accused beneficiaries, the ED had earlier said.

The agency had conducted raids in this case in August-September 2023 and arrested four persons apart from attaching assets worth Rs 117 crore.

In a statement issued in January, the ED had also claimed that benami loans were disbursed by the bank on the "instructions" of the CPI(M) district committee members and the political party, in turn, received "donations" from such beneficiaries.

The CPI(M) had earlier rejected the ED's allegations saying it would legally and politically fight the charges made against it