ED files money laundering case against Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan, her IT company  

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money laundering case against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena Vijayan and her IT company, Exalogic Solutions. ED has filed the case against some others over alleged illegal payments made by a private mineral firm to Veena Vijayan and the company. 

Sources said that the case has been registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and some of the people involved are expected to be summoned by the agency. 

The ED case was booked after a complaint was filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO). 

The case revolves around an Income Tax Department investigation that alleged that a private company called Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd (CMRL) made an illegal payment of Rs 1.72 crore to Veena Vijayan’s company during 2018 to 2019. The agency pointed out that the IT firm had not provided any service to the company. 

The Karnataka High Court had last month dismissed a plea filed by Exalogic Solutions against the probe initiated by the SFIO. The central government’s counsel had stated that there were serious offences and public interest involved in the case, which necessitated the probe by an agency like SFIO.                 

The government’s counsel had asserted then that the I-T Department’s revelation shed light on the Rs 135 distributed by CMRL to political functionaries, out of which Rs 1.78 crore was paid to Exalogic. Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), which is a government entity, also has 13.4 per cent stake in CMRL. The counsel said that CMRL was found to have undertaken several ‘shady’ transactions.