ED seeks FIR against Pinarayi Vijayan, family in CMRL case
Kochi/New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate has written to the Kerala DGP seeking an FIR against former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena T, and son-in-law P A Mohammed Riyas and some others in connection with the CMRL-linked alleged bribery case, official sources said Tuesday.
The central agency sent a communication under section 66 (2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) citing findings from its investigation in the case, 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 book a PMLA case based on such a police case.
The ED has sought registration of a police FIR from the Kerala Director General of Police (DGP) against Vijayan, Veena, her husband and former minister Riyas and some others under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and other laws on the basis of "evidence" recovered during its probe and searches conducted in this case under the PMLA, the sources said.
It is alleged by the ED that Kerala mining firm Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (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 raided Veena, who was living with Vijayan at a rented accommodation in the state capital 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.
While the Vijayan family and the CPI(M) offered no immediate comment, Riyas earlier stated 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. Vijayan had called the ED case against his daughter as a political vendetta.
The ED claimed that the CMRL management and Veena generated "proceeds of crime".
The PMLA case was filed in March 2024 after the ED took cognisance of a complaint registered by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the investigation arm of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which later filed a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) before an Ernakulam court in April 2025.
The CMRL was caught in the cross hairs of central probe agencies following an Income Tax Department raid in January 2019, which unearthed alleged fake expenses to the tune of Rs 130 crore.
Court documents state that the company "inflated" its expenditure by Rs 133.82 crore by booking "bogus" cash expenses under the heads of 'transportation' and 'sludge handling' between the financial years 2012-13 and 2018-19, and generated cash that was used to make illegal payments to politicians, parties, media houses and public servants.
The court papers add that CMRL CFO and MD "admitted" before tax authorities that such cash payments were made to ensure smooth business operations, as they faced threats of closure of the business and environmental challenges.
Officials said CMRL "admitted" to making these "fake" expenses before the Income Tax Settlement Commission. Later, a complaint was made to the SFIO.
In its prosecution complaint, the SFIO said CMRL made fictitious cash expenses worth Rs 182 crore over 15 years to "bribe" various people, and that it paid Rs 91 crore towards transport services to companies owned by CMRL promoter S N Sasidharan Kartha and his family.
NATIONAL KOCHI/NEWDELHI
