Rs 200 cr scam in BSNL Engineers Cooperative Society: Investigation drags on

The Crime Branch investigation into the Rs 200 crore misappropriation of funds at the BSNL Engineers Cooperative Society is dragging on. The probe team is yet to trace the Benami savings of the accused despite orders under the BUDS Act.

Thiruvananthapuram: The probe into the Rs 200 crore scam in BSNL Engineers Cooperative Society by the Crime Branch is going at a slow pace. The Crime Branch had earlier arrested the former president of the society R Gopinathan Nair, over fund misappropriation. He is the first accused in the case. 

However, the probe team is yet to trace the Benami savings of the accused despite orders under the BUDS (Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes) Act. So far it has been found that a fraud of Rs 216 crores has taken place in the BSNL society. 

The president, secretary, and trust members of the society were charged with criminal breach of trust and defrauding by the police after the depositors claimed that they had stolen nearly Rs 200 crore from 2,000 account holders. Later, the crime branch took up the investigation while taking the seriousness of the crime into account.

The former secretary of the society K V Pradeep Kumar was arrested by the Vanchiyoor police.

Inconsistencies were discovered when depositors tried to withdraw their money. The cooperative registrar sought an investigation by the city's police commissioner after the cooperative department's probe uncovered a Rs 200 crore scam. They used faked signatures and falsified documents to get loans in the names of depositors, according to the crime branch. Additionally, there were discrepancies in the total amount of deposits received. 

Nearly 500 persons who made deposits at the society's branch on Thiruvananthapuram's Uppalam Road at Statue have filed police complaints.