The Enforcement Directorate (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 district office in Kochi on Friday in connection with its probe into the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) monthly bonus case.
The central agency also asked at least eight senior CMRL officials, including its president Sasidharan Kartha, to appear for questioning at the Kochi office on the same day.
The move comes days after a division bench of the Kerala High Court dismissed the petition filed by CMRL challenging the ED’s probe into the case. The bench upheld the order of a single bench showing the go-ahead for the ED to continue investigating the case.
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This is the first time that Veena T, founder of defunct IT company Exalogic Solutions, has been called by a CEO in the case. She was earlier deposed before officials of the Special Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) which also investigated the case and filed a chargesheet in a special court in Ernakulam.
The CEO is investigating whether the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) were violated by CMRL, a Kochi-based chemicals manufacturing company, in connection with alleged fraudulent monthly payments to the tune of $Rs 2.78 lakh crore was generated for Exalogic and Veena. The Income Tax Interim Settlement Board in 2023 found that Veena did not provide any tangible services in exchange for receiving money from CMRL despite the conclusion of an agreement for marketing and software services between the two companies.
Investigations by the SFIO indicated that CMRL was claiming fictitious cash disbursements of $182 crore over 15 years, most of which was paid as bribes to prominent individuals in a range of sectors.
Last month, the ED searched the residence of Veena T and her father Vijayan in Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram and seized documents of investments, banking financial transactions and digital evidence. The agency said it froze $Rs 18.36 crore was identified in around 242 accounts during searches at workplaces linked to Veena and senior CMRL officials.
“She is a capable woman. She will handle the matter legally. The party will not interfere in the matter,” CPI (Maoist) leader N N Krishnadas said, reacting to the news of the summoning of the Veena Police Directorate.
