Kerala Police’s Crime Branch (CB) which is investigating the CSR funds scam case recorded Congress leader Laly Vincent’s detailed statement at its Thripunithura office on Wednesday. The politician has been named in eight FIRs registered by the Kannur Police related to the scam.
Interacting with the media after coming out of the Crime Branch office, Vincent mentioned that she was not summoned for interrogation but had requested the CB to record her statement.
Why Laly Vincent names as accused in Kerala CSR Funds Scam?
Congress leader Laly Vincent, who is also a lawyer by profession, was named as the seventh accused in this case after the Kerala Police found payments worth Rs 47,74,500 sent to her bank account by the prime accused Ananthu Krishnan. Kannur Town South Police booked Laly Vincent under Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Section 316(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) states that a person who commits criminal breach of trust can be punished with up to five years in prison, a fine, or both. Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) deals with the crime of cheating and dishonestly inducing someone to give property.
As per the police, Ananthu Krishnan, the prime accused in the scam, transferred Rs 47,74,500 swindled from people to the Congress leader’s bank account over a period of four years. In her plea, Laly Vincent argued that Ananthu paid the amount as her fee for providing legal advice to him.
In February this year, the Kerala High Court granted anticipatory bail to Congress leader Laly Vincent in connection with the CSR fund scam case. The Kerala CSR fund scam, also known as a half-price scam, involved alleged extortion of money from multiple individuals through a promises of delivering scooters, laptops, and other household appliances at half price, falsely claiming to utilise Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.
There have been allegations that crores of money were swindled by the prime accused Ananthu Krishnan, who had promised to sell scooters to women at half the market price. Krishnan allegedly claimed that he had access to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds of various companies to cover the remaining price of the scooters and fooled people.
Kerala High Court denies bail to K N Anand Kumar
The Kerala High Court on Wednesday rejected bail petition of K N Anand Kumar, who is currently in the judicial custody regarding the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund scam. K N Anand Kumar is the Chairperson of Sai Gramam Global Trust and the second accused in the fake CSR funds scam. Kumar’s bail petition was rejected by Justice P V Kunhikrishnan.
While Anand Kumar’s lawyer cited certain health concerns during the bail proceedings, the High Court observed that medical bail is considered only if necessary treatment is unavailable within the prison facility.
Kerala Police’s Crime Branch took Anand Kumar, chairman of the National NGO Confederation, into custody on March 11, 2025. He was arrested in the case of allegedly cheating people by falsely promising scooters and laptops at half price using fake CSR funds.
