The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at around 10 locations associated with Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), its top executives, and Veena Vijayan, daughter of former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. This action followed a Kerala High Court order supporting the ED’s money laundering investigation in a corporate fraud case involving the company. Documents related to investments and bank fixed deposits were seized during the raids and are currently under scrutiny as part of the ongoing probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
CMRL, a publicly listed company, has 48.75% shares held by public investors and 13.41% stake owned by the Kerala government-run Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation as of March 31, 2023. Searches were conducted in Kannur, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, and Bengaluru at premises linked to CMRL Managing Director S.N. Sasidharan Kartha, Joint Managing Director Saran S. Kartha, and Veena Vijayan, who operates Bengaluru-based IT firm Exalogic Solutions Private Limited.
Intelligence inputs suggested that Veena Vijayan was present at a residence in Thiruvananthapuram with her father, Pinarayi Vijayan, when the ED team arrived for the searches. The case originated from an Income Tax Department raid at CMRL in January 2019, uncovering alleged fake expenditure entries amounting to nearly Rs 130 crore. Subsequently, the company acknowledged the irregularities before the Income Tax Settlement Commission.
