In accordance with the terms of the PMLA, 2002, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) detained Sathish Kumar and Kiran P P on September 4, 2023, in connection with a bank fraud case involving the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Society. As a result of the ED’s searches and the subsequent investigation, it was discovered that Kiran P.P. was the recipient of loans that were improperly approved in the names of benamis using benami properties, generating proceeds of crime totalling Rs. 48.57 Crore, including principal and interest, which were not paid to the bank.
Sathish Kumar, Kiran P.P. also engaged in the listed offence and procured more than Rs. 14 crore in unlawful bank loans as part of the profits of the crime. The suspects have been remanded to ED Custody for 3 days after being presented before the appointed PMLA Special Court.
Through the use of private people, bank employees and officials defrauded the bank out of more than Rs. 150 Crore between 2014 to 2020, according to a Police FIR that served as the foundation for the ED’s inquiry and made financial gains for themselves by approving multiple loans to the same person beyond the bank’s loan limits, multiple loans on the pledge of the same asset, memberships granted to people who weren’t eligible using fictitious documents and addresses, manipulation of bank software, loans granted to non-members on the promise of benami properties, etc.
Earlier, the ED had temporarily attached real estate worth Rs. 30 crore, including a resort constructed with stolen money in Thekkady, Kerala. Further research is now being conducted.
