The ED has issued a fresh notice to former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter, Veena T, asking her to appear for questioning on June 29 in a money laundering case linked to mining firm CMRL and the now-defunct IT company, sources said on Sunday.
This will be the second round of interrogation of Veena by the central agency in this case.
She was interrogated for over nine hours at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Kochi on June 17 in connection with the case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
On June 19, ED officials searched the vaults of Veena Bank in Thiruvananthapuram as part of the ongoing investigation.
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According to ED sources, further interrogation was necessary after analyzing Veena’s statement and the evidence collected during the investigation.
A fresh notice was later issued directing her to appear before the agency on June 29.
The sources said that the statements of four other defendants have been recorded so far.
What is the issue?
The ED investigation relates to allegations that Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) made lump sum payments $2.78 crore to Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, owned by Veena, without receiving any services in return.
According to the agency, another company, Empower India Capital Investments Private Limited, run by CMRL Managing Director Sasidharan Kartha, provided loans worth $50 lakhs to Exalogic even though the company failed to pay it on time.
The executive alleged that Veena and CMRL management generated “criminal proceeds” through these transactions.
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The agency registered the case under PMLA based on the prosecution complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) before a court in Ernakulam in April 2025.
The SFIO, the investigative arm of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, accused Exalogic and CMRL of entering into an arrangement under which payments were allegedly made without any corresponding services being provided.
CMRL came under the scrutiny of central agencies following an Income Tax Department search in January 2019, which allegedly discovered financial irregularities, including suspected fictitious expenditure amounting to approx. $130 Crores.
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