Kochi: In a major development in the probe into the money laundering probe against Cochin Minerals Rutile Limited (CMRL), the Directorate of Enforcement has issued a fresh summons to Veena T, daughter of former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The central agency asked Veena to appear for an interrogation at its Kochi office at 10 am on June 17. ED directed her to bring relevant documents related to transactions of her firm, Exalogic Soluitions Private Limited.
ED had issued a summons to the woman entrepreneur asking her to appear before the probe team on June 12. The fresh summons was issued after Veena requested a postponement of the interrogation, citing health issues.
As per the case registered in 2024, CMRL made payments amounting to ₹2.78 crore to Exalogic Solutions without receiving any services in return.
During the probe, ED found that Empower India Capital Investments Private Limited (EICPL), another firm operated by CMRL Managing Director Sasidharan Kartha, had extended loans worth ₹50 lakh to Exalogic despite the company allegedly failing to make timely repayments.
The agency has alleged that Veena and the management of CMRL, led by Kartha, generated "proceeds of crime" through these transactions.
The ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on a prosecution complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) before a court in Ernakulam in April 2025. The SFIO is the investigation arm of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
CMRL came under the scanner of central agencies following an Income Tax Department raid in January 2019, which allegedly detected financial irregularities, including certain expenses suspected to be fictitious and amounting to around ₹130 crore.
(with inputs from PTI)