New Delhi | The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) attached assets worth Rs 4.34 Crore in the Pulpally Service Cooperative Bank case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 on November 10.

The attached assets include immovable properties belonging to KK Abraham, the then President, then Secretary, other Board members and Sajeevan KT, a private person.

According to an official statement, the Enforcement Directorate initiated the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), Wayanad, Kerala against the President of Pulpally Service Cooperative Bank and the Head of the Loan Section of the bank under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Subsequently, VACB, Wayanad filed a charge sheet against KK Abraham and 9 others.

ED investigation revealed that bank officials and its governing body members sanctioned enhanced loans without the consent and knowledge of the loan applicants by surreptitiously and illegally showing an overvalued estimation of properties offered as collateral in the bank record and the over and above amount of the loans sanctioned on the basis of overvaluation were given to Sajeevan Kollappallil (Private Person).

The loans were not repaid by the applicants and thus caused a total loss of Rs 5.62 Crore to the Pulpally Service Cooperative Bank.

The proceeds of crime in the form of an overvalued loan were deposited in the bank account of Sajeevan Kollappallil, maintained with Pulpally Service Cooperative Bank, Pulpally and subsequently withdrawn in cash and siphoned off. Earlier, Sajeevan Kollapallil and KK Abraham were arrested by ED and they are presently in judicial custody.