The Crime Branch (CB), probing an alleged loan scam amounting to around ₹96 crore at the Angamaly Urban Cooperative Society, on Wednesday (June 25, 2025) arrested two former director board members on charges of siphoning off funds through fake loans and forged documents.

The arrested have been identified as Elsey Varghese and P.C. Tomy. Ms. Varghese was produced before a court in Angamaly on Wednesday and remanded to the District Jail, Kakkanad. Mr. Tomy was remanded to the Aluva Sub Jail. The arrests followed the Kerala High Court’s dismissal of their anticipatory bail pleas twice. Allegedly, Mr. Tomy and Ms. Varghese were signatories to over 300 fake loans, each worth crores of rupees.

The latest arrests have taken the total number of accused in the case to nine. The CB had earlier arrested former director board members T.P. George, Devassy Madan, P.V. Paulose, Mary Antony, Rajappan Nair, and Luxy Joy, Elsy Paul, wife of P.T. Paul, the late former president of the Cooperative Society, and the alleged key accused former secretary Biju K. Jose, along with accountant K.A. Shiju.

The alleged scam came to light following the death of Paul. It was reportedly carried out with the support of the land mafia, leaving investors in the lurch. Many were unable to withdraw their savings even for marrying off their children or medical treatment.

According to CB sources, multiple loans had been taken in the name of Paul’s wife, Elsey Paul, and crores of rupees had been transacted through her various accounts in the society. She effectively served as her husband’s benami, with many of his investments, including those in land, made in her name. During his tenure as president, multiple loans were sanctioned to his associates on the same title deeds or even photocopies of original land documents. The director board was also packed with his hand-picked cronies, the sources said.

The CB found that 422 fake loans had been sanctioned against the title deeds of properties, often without the knowledge of the original title holders. Besides the fake loans, cases are also being registered at the local police station level based on petitions from investors complaining about the failure to return their investments.

Francis Thoppil, Joint Registrar General, the Cooperative department, had issued an order to attach the properties of three persons, including a director board member, for defaulting on loan repayments of ₹25 lakh each. The CB case was registered based on a complaint lodged by Mr. Thoppil.