KOCHI: The debit card seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) during the 25-hour-long raid at Bineesh Kodiyeri’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram — bearing the name of Bengaluru drug case accused Mohammed Anoop — is linked to the Bengaluru-based Hayaat restaurant financed by Bineesh, said a report by the agency. With this, the claim made by Bineesh’s wife that the ED team ‘planted’ the evidence at their house may have fallen flat.
In its report, a copy of which TNIE gained access to, the ED submitted that some digital evidence, suspected to contain incriminating material, were also collected from Bineesh’s house during the raid. Further, the ED has issued a summons to another person, identified as Rasheed, to record his statement regarding his alleged financial transactions with Anoop, as it is suspected that the said transactions were made on behalf of Bineesh.
The agency also stated that Beecapital Forex Trading Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, Bcapital Financial Services Pvt Ltd, and Torres Remedies Pvt Ltd, which Bineesh had claimed to be the ‘director’ of, were all shell companies registered under fake addresses.
Search operations were conducted on the premises of all three firms, and it was revealed that no companies under those names existed on the declared address, the report said. The bank account details of the firms have to be obtained and more people need to be examined to ascertain if Bineesh was indulging in money laundering activities with the help of these shell companies, it added. The ED said Bineesh has been adopting evasive tactics including health-related excuses to avoid cooperating with the investigation.
Latheef a benami of Bineesh: ED
The ED has sufficient records to believe that he is guilty of offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and further custody of Bineesh would enable the officials to unearth evidence of the same, the report said. The report also stated that Abdul Latheef, accused in the sensational gold smuggling case, is a benamidar of Bineesh.
The agency supposes that Latheef, who was involved in the functioning of Bineesh’s Old Coffee House in Thiruvananthapuram, is holding assets in which the accused has invested his narcotics money. Hence, his statement is necessary to gather more evidence regarding Bineesh’s illegal activities, the ED said. However, Latheef submitted that he has entered home quarantine after his mother tested positive for Covid-19, due to which he could not appear for interrogation.