Perumbavoor Urban Cooperative Society to witness novel election as aggrieved investors set to field panel to seize control

A novel fight is shaping up at the Perumbavoor Urban Cooperative Society, which is in the eye of a storm after alleged irregularities running into over ₹100 crore were unearthed recently, as aggrieved investors under the Nikshepaka Samrakshana Samithi (Investors’ Protection Committee) are set to field a panel in the upcoming election on November 24 to seize control of the society.

The election will be held for the 11-member director board, after the cooperative, formed in the 1940s and mostly governed by the Congress, landed in trouble. It almost ran dry of funds due to alleged fraud in the valuation of properties pledged for loans and the sanctioning of loans in violation of its bye-laws. Investors, who had been approaching the society for various needs, have been returning empty-handed, with withdrawals now restricted to emergency requirements like hospital expenses.

“This is perhaps the first time that aggrieved investors of a society are contesting the election on a panel. This comes after it was revealed that the same Congress-led governing committee members responsible for the plight of investors are set to contest again. The governing committee, which had initially considered skipping the election, was forced to hold one due to our pressure. Fourteen investors, including three as dummies, will file nominations on Monday,” said Mayinkutty N.A., secretary of the Nikshepaka Samrakshana Samithi.

According to the Samithi, it now represents 370 aggrieved investors who have collectively lost ₹106 crore. Mr. Mayinkutty said that there might be more investors, both outside the State and abroad, who were still unaware of the fate of their investments.

Paul Pathickal, Perumbavoor municipal chairperson and current president of the society, said that he and at least three other existing director board members would not be part of the Congress panel, which was yet to take shape. Three of the existing members had been part of the previous director boards during the term when the alleged fraud had taken place, while he would stay off due to his position as the municipal chairperson.

“The irregularities date back to 2000, long before our committee assumed charge in 2020. Loan dues of less than ₹5 lakh pertain to our term. Rather than detecting the real culprits, both the Cooperative department and the police are indiscriminately implicating even those director board members who, at best, might have been signatories but otherwise have little knowledge,” he said.

Mr. Pathickal also accused the Cooperative department of not taking swift action or reporting the matter to the government, as the fraud should have been detected during the annual audit. He added that, since the director board members were party nominees, most of them had little knowledge of the functioning of the society.

Meanwhile, the Crime Branch has taken over the probe into the alleged fraud. Since the Samithi was formed in April, over 200 police complaints have been lodged by investors. The police have consolidated multiple complaints to file first information reports. Sharaf, 59, a director board member and former president of the society, was arrested by the police at the Kochi airport while allegedly attempting to flee to Sri Lanka.

A probe by the Cooperative department had found 26 persons, including director board members and employees, responsible for irregularities and slapped them with a fine of ₹33.34 crore.