The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Monday arrested Prakash Joseph, legal officer of public sector Malabar Cements Limited, in a case of causing huge loss to the company. The loss was estimated at ₹2.7 crore.
The State government-owned PSU had signed a contract with a company owned by controversial businessman V.M. Radhakrishnan for cement retailing. Violating an agreement between the two firms, top officials of Radhakrishnan’s firm had withdrawn the mandatory security amount deposited at a bank without the knowledge of Malabar Cements top officials. When the PSU decided to challenge the issue in court, the case was taken up for consideration at a court in Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. However, Prakash Joseph allegedly misinformed the company that the case was at a Palakkad court. Going by the advice, the company lost its case in Thoothukudi and suffered financial loss.
It was argued that he wilfully caused loss to the company to protect Radhakrishnan’s interests. As he already obtained anticipatory bail from High Court, Mr. Joseph was released on bail after interrogation on Monday afternoon. Company managing director K. Padmakumar and marketing manager G. Venugopal were arrested by the VACB recently on charge of corruption and malpractices.
