KOZHIKODE: Being controlled by political leadership, the cooperative sector in the state has been rocked repeatedly by financial irregularities running into crores of rupees. In the last six years, a total 399 cooperative banks and societies across the state have reported financial fraud betraying the public trust in the sector.
Thrissur district, where the massive loan fraud was reported in Karuvannur Cooperative Bank recently, topped the list with 66 cooperative institutions being allegedly involved in financial malpractices in the past six years. In Malappuram district, fraudulent activities were reported in 55 institutions, followed by Thiruvanthapuram (49). Palakkad district remained at the bottom with only three institutions reporting financial fraud cases.
Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan revealed the data in reply to a query raised by Kasaragod MLA N A Nellikkunnu in the assembly on Monday. The fraud included sanctioning loans without following government norms, sanctioning loans against receipts of fake fixed deposits, illegal appointment of staff, malpractice in calculating interest on deposits, releasing loan amounts without security, gold loan scam, mismatch in the stock kept in Neethi medical stores, irregularities in auctioning of bank properties, looting money, sanctioning loans against property beyond the bank’s limit, mismanagement of funds allotted by the government and illegally allowing reduction in…
