KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case to probe into the alleged dubious transactions between Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter T Veena's IT firm Exalogic Solutions and Kochi-based Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL). ED's Kochi unit has registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) -- similar with a First Information Report in criminal cases -- and started a probe into the transactions.
ED started a probe based on the Income Tax probe which revealed that CMRL had paid Rs 1.72 crore to Exalogic Solution under the guise of providing software services. Another national agency- Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO) is conducting an investigation against CMRL regarding Rs 95 crores paid to various persons including political leaders and trade unions revealed during an Income tax probe conducted against the CMRL in 2019.
ED officials said that they have conducted a preliminary probe against CMRL. However, they refused to reveal information regarding ECIR registered against CMRL. Similarly, In Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases, ED registers ECIR based on a predicate case probed by other agencies. Currently, no criminal case has been registered in the alleged deal between CMRL and Exalogic Solution. However, ED officers maintain that they can register a case based on the investigation conducted by Income tax against CMRL.
Now the ED would first collect evidence from CMRL regarding the money paid to Exalogic. CMRL officials would be called for interrogation as part of the probe. Similarly, the books of CMRL will be verified before proceeding with the investigation towards Veena. The income tax report revealed that CMRL had paid money to other political leaders and trade unions as well. ED investigation is also likely to cover the persons who received money from CMRL.
The controversy surfaced last year after the Income Tax Department filed its report before the New Delhi bench of the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board based on searches held at CMRL and the residences of its MD Sasidharan Kartha and top officials in January 2019. Income Tax had found that CMRL was involved in massive tax evasion by exaggerating its expenses. In November 2020, CMRL approached the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board for a settlement into the matter.
It was revealed that CMRL signed an agreement with Veena to obtain marketing consultancy services in 2016. For the service, Veena was paid Rs five lakhs each per month. Another agreement was signed by CMRL with Exalogic for providing software support to the company in 2017. The agreement was made that Exalogic would get Rs 3 lakhs each per month for the service. However, during the Income Tax probe, top officials of CMRL gave statements that they had not received any service from Veena and Exalogic till now.
