Thiruvananthapuram: The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against six cooperative banks in Kollam for laundering black money following demonetisation. They are the cooperative banks of Kulasekharapuram, Chathannoor, Panmana, Kadakkal, Puthiyakavu and Mayyanadu. The CBI has unearthed irregularities by the banks which permitted some of their customers to deposit over Rs 50,000 soon after demonetisation was declared in November last. The secretaries of the respective banks have also been made accused in the case. Many irregular transactions were carried out in these banks following demonetisation. The Reserve Bank of India had instructed to follow certain procedures while accepting the banned notes. But these banks did not follow those procedures. The CBI is also investigating the involvement of officials with Kollam District Cooperative Bank, the then State Bank of Travancore, Industrial Development Bank of India, Indusind Bank and ICICI branches in Kollam.
The CBI in the report filed at the Thiruvananthapuram CBI court stated that in certain instances the accused deposited money in the accounts without the knowledge and permission of the account holder. The case has been registered against the following secretaries: M. Girija Kumari (Mayyanad), P. Ashokan (Kadakkal) Appukuttan Pillai (Puthiyakavu), Emily Daniel (Panmana), J. Sivan Pillai (Kulasekharapuram) and Sankara S. Nampoothiri (Chathannoor).
As per the FIR submitted by the CBI at its special court, these banks fraudulently accepted demonetised currencies valued at Rs 57,49,500 From its customers. The account holders later deposited these currencies at the District Co-Operative Bank Kollam. A CBI official on condition of anonymity said that the secretaries permitted some of their customers to deposit over Rs 50, 000 despite the RBI’s directive not to initiate transactions of more than the cut-off amount.
“However, Kadakkal bank accepted Rs 6.01 lakh from five persons, Puthiyakavu bank Rs 2.90 lakh from a customer, Mayyana bank Rs 1.82 lakh from a customer and Panmana bank was involved in 68 transactions for Rs 30 lakh violating the norms,” said a CBI official. He also informed that Kulasekharapuram bank accepted and deposited above Rs 50,000 from 10 persons to the tune of Rs 13.24 lakh and Chathannoor bank took currencies worth Rs 3.52 lakh from two persons. The District Cooperative Bank received withdrawn currencies of Rs 230 crore from its customers, including service cooperative banks, in between November 8 and November 15, 2016. This money was transferred to nationalised and private banks having branches in Kollam which reveals the nexus between the cooperative banks and banks like ICICI, IDBI, the then SBT and IndusInd Bank. The case has been registered under section 120(B), 409 and 420 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 13(2) and 13(1) (d).
