KOCHI: Veena T, daughter of former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, underwent nearly 10 hours of questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday in connection with its probe into the transactions between her IT firm Exalogic Solutions and Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL).
Veena arrived at the ED office in Kochi around 10.30am with husband and former minister P A Mohamed Riyas. He left after dropping Veena. The questioning continued till around 8pm.
There was heavy police deployment around the ED office due to the sensitive nature of the case, and also in the backdrop of the attack on ED officials by a crowd while they were leaving Pinarayi’s residence following searches on May 27.
Sources said the investigators questioned Veena about the utilisation of the Rs 2.78 crore allegedly received by Exalogic from CMRL, the circumstances under which payments were made, and about a Rs 50-lakh loan received from Empower India Capital Investments Pvt Ltd, a company in which Jaya Kartha is a director.
According to sources, the ED team also collected details of Veena’s assets and is examining whether any were acquired using funds under scrutiny. If such assets are found, the agency may initiate attachment proceedings.
The ED recently obtained permission from a special court in Kochi to access documents collected by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), whose findings form a key component of the money laundering investigation. However, sources said it is yet to receive 134 documents attached to the SFIO report.
The ED had initially summoned Veena on June 12. However, she informed the agency that she was unable to appear due to health reasons, following which a fresh summons was issued directing her to appear on June 17.
The ED investigation is based largely on findings of SFIO, which reported that Exalogic received substantial payments from CMRL for services that were allegedly never rendered. Following searches at multiple locations on May 27, the ED froze 242 bank accounts containing Rs 18.36 crore in connection with the case. One of the accounts belongs to Veena, a fact acknowledged by Pinarayi.
The ED has so far questioned Saran S Kartha, MD of CMRL and son of businessman Sashidharan Kartha, as well as Jaya Kartha and Shibi Kartha, wife and daughter of Sashidharan Kartha, respectively.