Siphoning public money through Cooperative Banks is a classic model devised by Communists in Kerala. Even before the news of the Karuvannoor Cooperative Bank fraud worth Rs 344 cr had settled, another scam has now emerged from Kannur in the name of an Islamic bank, Halal Fayida Cooperative Society.
Fayida Cooperative Society, Kannur, was launched in 2017. The bank is nine years old, but its depositors are now running from pillar to post to get their deposits back. Projected as an interest-free Islamic banking system, the idea behind its launch was to appease the Muslim community. Beef export was one of the projects planned by the society. Deposits were received, an office was opened, and depositors were promised dividends from the profits the bank was supposed to make.
The society was launched with M. Shajar as its Chief Promoter. Shajar, who is also the Kerala Youth Commission chairman and one of the DYFI office bearers, was appointed as the Chief Promoter, while Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the initiative.
However, the initiative turned out to be a short-lived affair, as it did not take much time before the society was closed. Adding to the concerns of the depositors, no Income & Expenditure statement was submitted at all.
As the news of the closure and the difficulties faced by depositors spread, K.P. Nasser, one of the depositors, managed to get his money back. Crores of rupees had been deposited by hundreds of depositors, but reports suggest that none of the others got their money back.
With depositors failing to recover their money, they began coming out with complaints. Nasser complained before the Chief Minister through T.K. Govindan MLA (Independent), following which he got his deposit back. T.K. Govindan was a senior CPM leader in Kannur district. He resigned from the party due to serious differences of opinion with the leadership when the party secretary M.V. Govindan’s wife was made the candidate in the constituency which her husband represented three times. When T.K. Govindan decided to contest as an independent candidate, Congress-led United Democratic Front {UDF} supported him, and he defeated P.K. Shyamala, the wife of M.V. Govindan.
Nasser stated that it is not clear who the governing council members are. He contacted the CPM leaders and enquired, but in vain. M. Shajar said he did not like to react.
The controversy has also raised questions over the political backing enjoyed by the society from the beginning. The bank was started when senior CPM leader P. Jayarajan was the Kannur district secretary, and it was with the blessings of the CPM leadership.
