ED quizzes Kerala CPM MP K Radhakrishnan in money laundering case

NEW DELHI: In a money laundering case against CPM-controlled Karuvannur cooperative bank in Thrissur, Kerala, ED on Tuesday interrogated CPM central committee member and Lok Sabha MP K Radhakrishnan in connection with loans of more than Rs 150 crore sanctioned by the bank to ‘customers’ on the basis of alleged bogus documents.
These loans were disbursed in cash, and in return cash donations were received by the party from them, according to the probe findings of ED shared during a property attachment of some of the accused in the case in Jan this year.
The agency has so far arrested four persons and attached properties worth over Rs 128 crore (till Jan). Just before LS polls last year, ED had submitted details of its money trail in the case to EC and income tax department for further action against CPM and its senior functionaries.
Earlier, the agency had also questioned CPM’s former cabinet minister A C Moideen on irregularities in sanctioning of loans.
In its report sent to I-T department and EC before Lok Sabha elections, the agency had mentioned at least 80 bank accounts having about Rs 25 crore worth of deposits, most of them made in cash. It had also sent a list of undisclosed properties to verify whether these were disclosed in poll affidavits by persons concerned.
Radhakrishnan was questioned at the Kochi office of ED, which is investigating the case & had attached assets worth Rs 11 crore in Jan, including Rs 50 lakh cash deposits in the bank and Rs 10.5 crore worth of land and buildings in different parts of Kerala.