Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] Thrissur district secretary M.M. Varghese appeared before the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in Kochi on December 19 (Tuesday) in connection with the probe into the multi-crore scam at the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank in Thrissur. This is the third time the agency is questioning him.
Mr. Varghese turned up at the Kochi office of the agency around 11.30 a.m. He had earlier appeared for questioning on November 24 and December 1. Though the agency had asked him to appear before it on December 5, he did not turn up stating that he needed to attend the Navakerala Sadas public outreach programme of the Left front government.
Before entering the ED office, Mr. Varghese said that he will continue to cooperate with the probe.
M.B. Raju, member of the party’s Irinjalakuda area committee, and Peethambaran, former vice-president of the bank, also appeared before the ED for questioning.
Two accused to turn approvers
The ED had asked Mr. Varghese to appear for questioning again, especially after Biju M. Karim and Sunil Kumar T.R., former manager and secretary respectively of the bank, expressed their willingness to become prosecution witnesses in the case. They had revealed their desire to turn approvers when produced before the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kochi on December 16. The court is likely to consider the plea on December 21.
The agency had reportedly found that the local party leadership in Thrissur was managing a few accounts at the bank. It was alleged that certain financial transactions were done through these accounts as commission for the illegal loans sanctioned by the key accused in the scam.
The ED had asked Mr. Varghese to submit certain documents related to the alleged financial transactions managed by the party through the bank.
