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A chartered accountant linked to a nationalized bank has been arrested by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) for allegedly accepting a bribe. Sudhakaran, a Concurrent Auditor at Canara Bank’s Mavelikara branch, was caught receiving Rs 50,000 from a complainant at his home in Chinnakada, Kollam, on Saturday.
VACB officials reported that Sudhakaran had demanded a total of Rs 6 lakh from the complainant, a Kochi businessman running an educational consultancy in Kerala. He claimed that some of the complainant’s submitted documents were “inappropriate,” which could lead to complications, including the risk of his accounts being classified as non-performing assets (NPA).
Sudhakaran allegedly sought the bribe to avoid filing a negative audit report. He initially requested an advance of Rs 10,000, which the complainant sent via Google Pay. When Sudhakaran insisted on receiving the remaining amount in person, the complainant alerted the VACB.
A sting operation was executed, resulting in Sudhakaran’s arrest while he was accepting the bribe at his residence. VACB officials noted that he is a registered concurrent auditor with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is compensated by Canara Bank. VACB SP Sasidharan mentioned that preliminary investigations indicate this may not be Sudhakaran’s first bribery offense, and a comprehensive investigation is underway.
(Newsroom staff only edited this story for style from a syndicated feed)
