Kerala NRI party head arrested for forging ED letter
· India · Indian Express
Rajendran Vellapalath, founder of Indiafirst and chairperson of Kerala Pravasi Association, was arrested by Ernakulam rural police on Thursday for allegedly forging an Enforcement Directorate letter to extort money from the Thrissur-based Indian Cooperative Credit Society Limited, police said. The forged letter, dated October 13, purportedly demanded financial details under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and police confirmed no such notice was issued by the ED. Vellapalath was booked under sections 308 (extortion), 319 (2) (cheating), and 340 (2) (forgery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and sent to judicial custody. Police are investigating whether he used similar forged ED notices to extort funds from other companies, with potential additional arrests expected.
Why it matters
The arrest exposes a fraud scheme targeting a cooperative credit society, threatening its financial stability and public trust in NRI-led political movements, while highlighting misuse of enforcement agency names for illegal gain.
Read the original report — Indian Express
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