Intense efforts are on in Kerala and UAE to settle the financial fraud case in Dubai against Binoy Vinodini Balakrishnan, elder son of CPI(M)’s senior Politbureau member and Kerala State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, out of court.
The bid to settle the case out of court with the complainant, UAE citizen Hasan Ismaeel Abdulla Almarzooqi, owner of UAE-based JAAS Tourism llC, has reportedly been intensified because of the complexities involved in getting the travel ban imposed on Binoy by a Dubai court in connection with the fraud case removed.
According to reports from the Gulf, the efforts to settle the case are going on as per the wish of the CPI(M) leadership which is under fire over the issue and certain Gulf-based Kerala industrialists have been acting as mediators. The Kerala leadership of the CPI(M) is under pressure from the central leadership and the cadres to settle the issue at the earliest.
Certain Gulf-based Kerala businessmen have already expressed willingness to give Binoy the money required for paying Almarzooqi, who has filed the case in the Dubai court against Binoy. The present case relates to the charge that a cheque for AED 1 million (Rs 1.72 crore) that Binoy had given Almarzooqi’s company had bounced in the bank.
“Binoy is presently in Dubai. He cannot return to Kerala without settling the case by paying Almarzooqi this amount. Otherwise, it is quite possible for the court to sentence him to imprisonment,” said a legal expert. “An out-of-the-court settlement is the only way available now for Binoy, his family – and, of course, the CPI(M) – at this point of time,” he said.
It is said that several rounds of discussion have already taken place among certain UAE residents who had connections with the deal between Binoy and the company and people close to Binoy.
The UAE residents had reportedly come to India for the discussions which were held at Delhi and a luxury hotel at Kumarakom near Kottayam in Kerala.
After the discussions in Kerala, the UAE residents had reportedly gone to Delhi where they briefed CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechuri, to whom Almarzooqi had handed over his complaint describing how Binoy had duped his company. Yechuri had interacted with the concerned people in Kerala. A settlement of the issue is expected this week itself.
According to the complaint Almarzooqi had allegedly lodged with the CPI(M)’s central leadership, Binoy had duped his company of over AED 4.5 million by failing to repay loans he had availed through JAAS Tourism. He had said that Binoy’s liabilities to his company had grown to AED 7 million (RS 13 crore) with interest and legal charges.
When the controversy erupted, the CPI(M) had tried to defend itself and Binoy by claiming that neither the party nor its State secretary had anything to do with the fraud. The Kerala CPI(M) had gone even to the extent of issuing a statement by reiterating this position. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan himself said that Binoy was not facing any case anywhere in the Gulf.
However, reports on the travel ban imposed on Binoy by the Dubai court changed the situation making Kodiyeri as well as the party defenceless. CPI(M) insiders say that the controversy has caused discomforts within the top CPI(M) leadership with a faction opposing the ‘Kerala lobby’ using it as a weapon against it.
The CPI(M) wants to see Binoy’s Dubai fraud case settled at the earliest also in the context of the eruption of scandals regarding similar cases in UAE against sons of other leftist leaders like Sreejith Vijayan, son of lDF MlA N Vijayan Pillai and Jithin Raj, son of CPI(M) central committee member and former minister EP Jayarajan MlA.
However, there are worries within the CPI(M) and among those near to the Kodiyeri family about how money could be paid to Almarzooqi especially as a request from the BJP is pending before the Enforcement Directorate for an investigation into the financial deals of Kodiyeri’s sons, Binoy and Bineesh.