Thiruvananthapuram: In a major development in the money laundering case linked to Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has written to the Kerala police chief seeking registration of an FIR against former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
In the letter sent to Keralam DGP Ravada Azad Chandrasekhar, the central agency has also sought to name Vijayan's daughter T Veena and her husband, MLA P A Mohammed Riyas, as accused.
In the report sent to the DGP, ED accused Vijayan of receiving a Rs 3.28 crore bribe from CMRL through his daughter. The probe team claimed that Riyas had allegedly helped Vijayan to transfer the bribe funds to Dubai through Venna and unknown associates. The report claimed that the corporate vehicle of Veena's firm was used for routing the sham payments. Exalogic Solutions, CMRL MD Sasidharan Kartha, and former CFO P Suresh Kumar are the others facing charges in the case.
The ED has sent a communication under section 66 (2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) citing findings of its investigation conducted in the said case, the sources told PTI.
This section under the anti-money laundering law empowers the ED to share findings of its criminal investigation with a law enforcement agency for registration of a fresh FIR or complaint. The ED can register a PMLA case on the basis of such a police case.
The ED has sought registration of a police FIR against Vijayan and others on the basis of "evidences" recovered by it during probe and searches conducted in this case under the PMLA, they said.
The agency alleged that Kerala mining firm CMRL made fraudulent payments worth Rs 2.78 crore to Veena's now-defunct company Exalogic Solutions under the guise of 'IT consultancy services'. The federal agency had raided Veena, who was living with Vijayan at a rented accommodation in Thiruvananthapuram, in June and subsequently questioned her.
It had said in a statement in August that some "handwritten" notes were seized during searches against Veena T, and these contained details of certain fund transfers to Dubai. When the case triggered a controversy, Pinarayi Vijayan had called the case a political vendetta.
Veena's husband and CPI(M) leader Riyas had said that he and the party would politically and legally deal with the ED case, including the searches conducted at their homes and the businesses of people linked to them.
A similar view was also expressed by CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan, who claimed that the ED was now trying to target Riyas.
(With inputs from agencies)