Thrissur: Former directors of the governing body of the scam-hit Karuvannur bank claimed that the CPM had made them a scapegoat in order to protect some leaders in the case. 

Responding to the media on Sunday, Sugathan and Lalithan, CPI representatives in the bank's director board, alleged that CPM district committee member C.K. Chandran has significant influence in the bank.

"We were used as scapegoats in order to save some popular leaders. We didn't approve big loans sanctioned by the bank. Loans in excess of Rs 5 lakh were approved secretly. The loans were approved by only the president and were recorded in the minutes book later," they added.

There were three CPI representatives on the bank's board of directors. They all received Rs 8.5 crore revenue recovery notice.