THE ANATOMY OF A CO-OP BANK SCAM

How the unravelling of the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank in Kerala exposed a web of deceit and criminal acts

- Nidheesh MK

In the quaint town of Thrissur, Kerala, where the rustle of paddy leaves and the scent of spices hang in the air, the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank stood as a symbol of trust and financial stability. Until recently, that is. Little did its unsuspecting depositors know that within the walls of this revered institution, a sinister plot was unravelling, revealing a scam that would send shockwaves through the town and expose the vulnerabilities of the cooperative banking system.

Sailakshmi, a middle-aged woman with dreams of having a small printing press for her Gulf-returnee husband, was one of those depositors. In 2016, Sailakshmi found herself rejected by nationalized banks when she sought a loan. She turned to the Karuvannur Bank. With a centuryold legacy, the cooperative bank was a friendly haven for the financially marginalized.

The bank, however, denied Sailakshmi the loan but kept her property documents and did not return them even after she made repeated requests. Sailakshmi's nightmare began in 2018, when she received a notice claiming she owed ₹50 lakh to the very bank that turned her away.

It was a clerical error, officials of the bank claimed. However, the truth emerged when she got a copy of the property's encumbrance certificate, which establishes if the title is free, from the local village office. Sailakshmi discovered her property had been leveraged for illicit loans, siphoning off ₹3 crore to unknown entities. And so began her five-year odyssey for justice, grappling with threats, scepticism, and societal apathy.

Between 2019 and 2021, Sailakshmi found herself to be a lone voice in a sea of disbelief. Nobody believed her story, with her own relatives saying it was impossible. She held a press conference in 2019, only to find journalists asking if she took them for idiots. No case was recorded at the police station and the cops even warned her not to complain about the bank again.