Probe begins into fraud by Jalanidhi staff
The accused went absconding on Thursday after the case came to light.
MALAPPURAM: The police and Jalanidhi authorities have initiated a probe into the large scale financial fraud allegedly committed by a contract employee at the Regional Project Office of the Jalanidhi in Malappuram district. The police registered a case against Praveen Kumar, an accountant at the district unit for the past three years, on a complaint filed by the regional project director of the Jalanidhi unit. Malappuram circle inspector A. Premjith is investigating the case.
The accused went absconding on Thursday after the case came to light. A five-member team led by deputy director (finance) from the headquarters of Jalanidhi Project, has reached Malappuram to assess the amount of money siphoned off from the bank accounts of the district unit. “The exact sum of money will only be clear after the assessment. The police has also launched a probe to nab the accountant, a Neeleswaram native, who was handling all the accounts and cheques at the Malappuram unit,” said Abdul Latheef K.V.M., the regional project director.
The swindle came to light during a scrutiny of money transactions in the wake recent cases of banking frauds in the state. It was found that the accountant had included a private bank account number on a list of the bank accounts of 41 panchayats in the district. Funds had been transferred to this account during the past few years.