ED transfers Attached Properties to Co-Op Bank in Money Laundering Case

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has handed over attached assets worth Rs 1 crore to the Thiruvananthapuram-based Kandala Service Cooperative Bank authorities for auction, in order to recover losses from a case of money laundering involving its former president and his family, agency sources said here on Friday.

The documents relating to the attached properties were officially handed over by Deputy Director of ED, S Simi, to Kandala Bank secretary Baiju Raj at the ED office here on Thursday, they said.

The case pertains to the alleged siphoning of Rs 3.22 crore by CPI leader and former bank president N Bhasurangan and his family.

Along with Bhassurangan, his wife Jayakumari, son Akhijith, daughters Aswathi and Abhima, and son-in-law B R Balamurugan were named as accused.

The accused were arrested on 21 November 2023, following which the ED attached assets worth Rs 1 crore belonging to them.

These assets have now been transferred to Kandala Bank in Thiruvananthapuram, which plans to auction them to recover the losses, bank officials said.

Investigators said Bhasurangan intervened in the sanctioning of loans without sufficient collateral.

An officer added that Bhasurangan also facilitated illegal transactions on behalf of several political leaders.

The scam involved misappropriating funds by converting chit fund amounts into loans and diverting the money through benami accounts.

According to the ED, Bhasurangan, in his own name and those of his family members, had availed loans worth Rs 2.36 crore, which remain unpaid along with interest.