KOCHI: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has named an Assistant Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Kochi Unit, as the first accused in a high-profile bribery case involving the extortion of money from a businessman in exchange for halting an ED investigation.
On Saturday, the VACB's Kochi unit arrested Renjith Warrier, a Kochi-based chartered accountant, following the earlier arrest of two other accused. Warrier was taken into custody from his residence on Variyam Road in Kochi.
According to officials, Warrier provided information about the businessman to Wilson, who later posed as a mediator for ED officials and demanded money.
The investigation was launched after a Kottarakara-based businessman, engaged in the export of cashew to African countries, filed a complaint. He had been interrogated by ED Assistant Director Shekar Kumar last year over alleged irregularities in foreign fund transfers.
The ED suspected inflated turnover figures and questioned whether some transactions were unrelated to cashew exports. During the interrogation at the ED’s Kochi office, Shekar Kumar-now named as the first accused-allegedly threatened to arrest the businessman and his other family members.
According to the FIR, the second accused, Wilson, a resident of Thammanam, contacted the businessman soon after the interrogation and demanded Rs two crore to end the ED probe.
In an effort to convince the complainant, Wilson also forwarded a copy of the ED’s summons. Recently, Wilson contacted the complainant again, this time demanding Rs 2 lakh allegedly meant for Shekar Kumar.
The businessman then approached VACB, prompting a preliminary inquiry.
After verifying the allegations, the agency laid a trap and arrested Wilson on Thursday while accepting the bribe.
The third accused, Mukesh Jain alias Murali, Rajasthan native residing in Kochi-was arrested the following day. He had allegedly instructed the businessman to deposit Rs 50,000 into a bank account in Thane, Maharashtra.
VACB has found that Mukesh was involved in hawala transactions. All three accused were produced before the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court and remanded to judicial custody.
VACB officials said they would soon seek custody of the accused for further questioning.
VACB Ernakulam SP S Sasidharan confirmed that the investigation is in its early stages.
“The ED officer was arraigned based on the complainant’s statement. Further questioning of the arrested individuals will guide the next steps. There are several angles still to be covered before interrogating the ED officer. He will be summoned based on the evidence that emerges,” he said.
Officials are also probing whether the accused extorted money from others under ED investigation in Kerala.
The complainant told VACB that Wilson had claimed involvement in mediating other high-profile cases, including the 2020 Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case.
Meanwhile, the ED has initiated an internal inquiry into the allegations. Officials said appropriate disciplinary action would be considered based on the outcome of that probe.
The ED and VACB have been at loggerheads over major investigations, including the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank scam and the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case.