The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) will shortly probe the money laundering angle in the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited pay-off case in which Veena Thaikandiyil, daughter of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has been named one of the accused.
A copy of the final complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in the case was handed over to ED officials on Tuesday. Sathyaveer Singh, an Assistant Director at the Kochi unit of the ED, received a copy of the complaint from the court on the day.
The ED will inquire whether the accused have received any proceeds of crime and laundered it. The preliminary task of the agency will be to find out whether any offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act has been made out.
The agency had earlier approached the Additional District Court 7, special court for trying offences booked by the SFIO, for a copy of the final complaint. It obtained the report and list of documents and witnesses on the day. It will again approach the court for receiving copies of the other documents submitted by the SFIO in the case, sources said.
It’s probably for the first time that Ms. Veena is coming under the radar of the ED, though she had earlier been probed by the SFIO.
The special court had earlier taken cognizance of the final complaint after it found that a prima facie case has been made out against the respondents, including Ms. Veena.
The SFIO has arraigned Ms. Veena as the 11th accused in the case. The allegation of the investigation agency is that Ms. Veena and her now defunct IT firm Exalogic had received fraudulent payment of ₹2.7 crore from the CMRL.
Earlier, the CMRL had contended that the money was paid to Exalogic for consultancy services. Sasidharan Kartha, managing director of the CMRL is the other accused in the case.
The SFIO had made Mr. Kartha and his son, Saran Kartha, and some of the company officials as accused in two more pay-off cases.
The special court will shortly issue summons to all the accused in the case.
Published – April 15, 2025 09:14 pm IST