ED Raids 12 Places in Rs 1,000 crore-CSR Scam in Kerala

KOCHI:
The Kochi unit of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday raided 12 places across the state in connection with the Rs 1,000 crore corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund scam in Kerala.

Among the places where the ED team was conducting the raid included the residence and offices of K.N. Anandakumar, Chairman of the NGO Confederation and a well-known social activist in Kerala who is alleged to have received Rs 10 lakh per month from the 26-year-old mastermind Ananthu Krishnan, considered to be the kingpin in the scam.

The raid is also taking place at the residence of top Congress leader Laly Vincent, who is the legal counsel for Krishnan.

The fake CSR scam was promoted by Krishnan who allegedly lured victims by promising high-value products like scooters, laptops, and sewing machines at half the market price.

The innocent people alleged that Krishnan’s aggressive promotional campaigns convinced many to invest their savings in what appeared to be an attractive deal.

Incidentally, this ED raid is happening around the same time when the orders for Anandakumar’s anticipatory bail plea are to be pronounced by a lower court in the state capital city.

Likewise, on Monday a court in Ernakulam district handed over custody of Krishnan for two days as the police probe team wanted to get more information from him on the scam.

The police probe team has informed the court that Krishnan had 21 bank accounts and in 11 of his accounts Rs 548 crore worth of transactions had taken place.

It was also found that he had collected Rs 143.50 crore from around 25,000 people after promising them to pay two-wheelers at half the market price.

The probe team is yet to ascertain where this money has now vanished and informed the court that these are all the preliminary findings and require more time for the probe.

The Crime Branch wing of the Kerala Police is probing the case and has registered more than 500 cases of cheating.