‘Made payments to Veena due to personal relationship with Pinarayi’; Kartha’s statement puts duo under fresh scrutiny

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A statement given by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) managing director S Sasidharan Kartha to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has emerged, posing a fresh challenge for opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter, Veena Vijayan in the CMRL-Exalogic case. His statement is that money was paid to Veena and her company due to his personal relationship with Pinarayi Vijayan. He also said that neither Veena nor Exalogic provided any services to CMRL.

His statement to the ED in April 2024 has now emerged. CMRL paid approximately Rs 2.78 crore to Veena and Exalogic between 2017 and 2020. The ED had found that Veena received the money in the name of services that were not rendered. The ED report also mentioned that Veena herself has admitted that no services were rendered.

The ED is investigating payments totalling approximately Rs 2.78 crore, made between 2017 and 2020 to Veena Vijayan and Exalogic. The agency alleged that the payments were made without any services being rendered. The ED report also stated that Veena had admitted that no services were provided.

When questioned earlier, Veena said that she had personally given guidance to CMRL. However, she was not able to produce emails or other evidences to prove her claim. The payments allegedly included Rs 5 lakh monthly to Veena and Rs 3 lakh to Exalogic. Kartha also said that a loan of Rs 50 lakh was given through Empower India Capital Investment, a company owned by him.

The ED further noted that Exalogic, which was running at a loss during 2014–15 entered into an agreement with CMRL only after the Pinarayi Vijayan government assumed office in 2016. As part of the investigation, the ED had frozen 242 bank accounts linked to CMRL, along with Veena Vijayan's accounts. Exalogic Solutions is presently not operational.