Kochi: Enforcement Directorate officers spent Wednesday morning at offices and homes linked to a cooperative society that has collected deposits from lakhs of members across three states.
The agency searched at least 11 locations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, including Kochi, Kozhikode and Chennai, in an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The case concerns the Bharath Lajhna Multi State Co-operative Society (BLM), and the searches are linked to R. Premkumar, its founding member and de facto chairman and managing director, and some others, according to ED sources.
The ED action runs alongside a Crime Branch probe in Kerala. Premkumar is accused of misusing his influence to divert crores of rupees collected from public depositors into accounts of his relatives for personal use.
The Crime Branch arrested him at his residence in Nungambakkam, Chennai, on October 29 and produced him before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kozhikode. He was granted bail shortly afterwards, with the court citing procedural lapses in the arrest. The police have asked the court for permission to re-arrest him.
The police case began with a complaint from a former chief executive of BLM at the Nadakkavu police station in Kozhikode, alleging physical assault by Premkumar and a few others. The complaint was later withdrawn. The Crime Branch, having found what it describes as evidence of misappropriation of funds, registered an FIR under Sections 316(5) (criminal breach of trust) and 318(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
After his release on bail, a fresh cheating case was registered against him for allegedly defrauding a woman of Rs 1.6 crore in Kothamangalam.
The Crime Branch has examined about 320 bank accounts linked to the alleged scam.
BLM was started in Chennai in 2006 as a housing cooperative society and reportedly runs around 150 branches with more than 15 lakh members across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Deposits from those members are at the centre of the case.
The society's top managers have denied allegations of deposit fraud. They have said BLM holds assets worth more than its liabilities towards depositors.
The investigation is at the search stage. Premkumar remains an accused, not a convict.