The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has summoned Veena T, daughter of former Kerala chief minister and veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) leader Pinarayi Vijayan, to appear for questioning at its zonal office in Kochi on Friday in connection with its probe into the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) monthly payoffs case.
The central agency has also asked at least eight top officials of CMRL, including its chairman Sasidharan Kartha, to turn up for questioning at the Kochi office the same day.
The move comes days after a division bench of the Kerala High Court dismissed a plea filed by CMRL challenging the ED investigation in the case. The division bench upheld a single judge bench order showing the green light to ED to continue its probe in the case.
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This is the first time that Veena T, the founder of now-defunct IT firm Exalogic Solutions, has been summoned by the ED in the case. She had earlier deposed before officials of the Special Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) which has also investigated the case and submitted a chargesheet in a special court in Ernakulam.
The ED is investigating whether provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) have been violated by CMRL, a chemicals manufacturer based in Kochi, with respect to the alleged fraudulent monthly payments to the tune of ₹2.78 crore it made to Exalogic and Veena. An Income Tax Interim Settlement Board had found in 2023 that Veena’s firm delivered no tangible services in exchange for receiving the money from CMRL though an agreement for marketing and software services had been drawn up between the two firms.
{{/usCountry}}The ED is investigating whether provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) have been violated by CMRL, a chemicals manufacturer based in Kochi, with respect to the alleged fraudulent monthly payments to the tune of ₹2.78 crore it made to Exalogic and Veena. An Income Tax Interim Settlement Board had found in 2023 that Veena’s firm delivered no tangible services in exchange for receiving the money from CMRL though an agreement for marketing and software services had been drawn up between the two firms.
{{/usCountry}}Investigations by the SFIO have pointed to CMRL claiming fictitious cash expenses of ₹182 crore over a span of 15 years, much of which was paid as bribes to prominent individuals across a range of sectors.
Last month, the ED searched the premises of Veena T and her father Vijayan in Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram and seized documents of investments, bank FDs and digital evidence. The agency has said that it has frozen about ₹18.36 crore in around 242 accounts identified during the search operations at premises linked to Veena and top CMRL officials.
CPI(M) leader NN Krishnadas, responding to the news of ED summoning Veena, said, “She is a capable woman. She will handle it legally. The party will not interfere in it.”