ED to summon Veena in monthly pay-off case; probe expands to foreign accounts and UDF leaders

KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has decided to extensively question Veena Vijayan, daughter of former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in connection with the CMRL monthly pay-off case. In a high-level meeting held yesterday at the ED Zonal Office in Kochi, officials also resolved to expand the scope of the investigation to other beneficiaries who allegedly received illicit funds from the company.

However, further procedural moves will depend on the High Court's stance regarding an appeal filed by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) seeking to halt the ongoing probe. The court is scheduled to consider the petition tomorrow.

According to sources, the central agency plans to issue an official summons to Veena Vijayan only after cross-examining the promoters and senior executives of CMRL once again. In a significant development, indications suggest that the bank accounts of both Veena and her IT firm, Exalogic Solutions, have been frozen. Although Veena's personal account currently holds a minimal balance of ₹1.5 lakh, investigators are thoroughly scrutinising past transactions routed through it. Furthermore, the probe has expanded across borders to investigate a dormant bank account in Abu Dhabi, specifically tracking financial transactions made between 2017 and 2019 before the account became inactive.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) had previously unearthed suspicious transactions worth ₹182 crore executed by CMRL over a span of 15 years. Investigators suspect these funds were utilised to pay off influential political figures. Sources close to the development state that several UDF leaders and some ministers in the current cabinet are among the alleged recipients, bringing them directly under the scanner of the ongoing ED investigation.