Vellappally Natesan admits swindle in micro-finance scheme

Thiruvananthapuram: Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan has admitted that a few union leaders had swindled up to Rs 5 crore in the micro-finance scheme. Mr Natesan made this startling disclosure at the SNDP leadership meet in Kanyakumari on Friday. But he suspected there was a move by renegades to dislodge him and discredit the organization.

‘Some union leaders had resorted to massive swindling. Some of them were UDF leaders. But I failed to take note of it and check the fraud in time”, added Mr Natesan, lending credence to the then Opposition campaign about massive scam in the name of micro-finance scheme. Former Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan had accused Mr Natesan of pocketing the assistance meant for the poor women of his community.

Based on his complaint, the Vigilance had detected fraud worth Rs 80.30 lakh. The president and the secretary of the Pathanamthitta SNDP union have been booked for cheating. Mr Natesan also picked on his pet foe and KPCC president V M Sudheeran, calling him the “worst president” the Congress had seen in Kerala. It was high time Mr Sudheeran stepped down as the KPCC president or soon he would be booted out by the A and I factions, he said.