Thiruvananthapuram: In a major development in the probe into the money laundering case against Cochin Mineral Rutile Limited (CMRL) and defunct company Exalogic Solutions, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Wednesday claimed that it had recovered crucial evidence against former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena T, owner of Exalogic Solutions. In a press statement, the federal probe agency said that it seized some "handwritten" notes during searches against Veena in May, and these contained details of certain fund transfers to Dubai. Following this revealation, BJP and Congress launched a fresh attack against the CPI(M) and Pinarayi Vijayan. The saffron party has called for Pinarayi's resignation from the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, while Congress questioned CPI(M)'s silence.
ED's claims on digital evidence, foreign fund transfer
According to the probe team, fresh searches were conducted on August 18 in Kozhikode against those who were named in Veena's handwritten accounts and the person who allegedly provided her the SIM card.
The probe team alleged that CMRL made fraudulent payments worth ₹2.78 crore to Exalogic Solutions under the guise of 'IT consultancy services'.
The federal agency had raided Veena, who was living with Vijayan at a rented accommodation in state capital Thiruvananthapuram, in May and subsequently questioned her at its Kochi office.
"The seizures made by ED (during August 18 searches) shows Smt. Veena was handling amounts beyond her known sources of income. The amounts stated in her handwritten accounts are over and above the amount received from CMRL," the agency alleged.
It added that it would initiate legal action as per law, adding 'evidences' relating to transfer of money using hawala channels were also found.
"The investigations done by ED before (May searches) showed that proceeds of crime were generated by the management of CMRL led by SN Sasidharan Kartha and bribes were paid to various persons. Smt. Veena is one of the recipients of money from CMRL without rendering any services," reads the official statement.
₹85 lakh transferred to Dubai
During the searches conducted on May 27, the agency found certain handwritten accounts "maintained by" Veena.
ED revealed that the hand written notes contained the names of the persons, amounts handled/ spent, amounts transferred to Dubai, etc. The accounts contained details of amount handled in AED (Dubai currency) as well as India rupees.
The amounts transferred to Dubai as per the notings is about 3.49 lakh AED (equivalent to about ₹85 lakh), the ED claimed.
"The accounts for Indian rupees maintained is for about ₹20.05 crore (approx.), and these handwritten accounts were seized," it said.
It added that the digital devices seized from Veena had a photograph of the SIM card obtained in the name of another person for usage in a Wifi router.
"It is suspected that the SIM and Wifi router were obtained by her in the name of another person so as to use the same for communications through internet-based calls," the ED said.
Riyas refutes report on bank account being used to divert CMRL funds
CPI(M) legislator P A Mohammed Riyas on Thursday refuted a report claiming that his bank account was used by his wife Veena T to divert funds received from CMRL.
In a Facebook post, Riyas said a news report alleging that the money Veena received from CMRL for services was transferred to several people's accounts through his bank account, and that he had been questioned over the phone twice in connection with it, was "completely false".
He said he would take legal action against the media report and had refrained from responding to reports that appeared every day while the investigation was ongoing and he was dealing with the matter legally.
“I have the confidence to face it legally as I have done nothing wrong,” Riyas said, adding that he and his party had already pointed out the political aspects of the matter.
Earlier, he claimed that nothing illegal was found by the agency, but "false reports were circulated to create a smokescreen and cast a shadow of doubt" on Veena, himself and the party.
He also termed as false the reports that Veena has started a new firm, saying that its name was mentioned in his assembly election nomination papers and the entity was not functioning in secret.
He vowed that he and the party would deal with the ED probe politically and legally.
