Antiques fraud case; K Sudhakaran appears before ED for questioning

KOCHI: K Sudhakaran MP has appeared before ED for questioning in a money laundering case related to an antiques fraud in which Monson Maungal is accused. DCC President Mohammad Shiyas, KPCC General Secretary K Jayant and others accompanied the KPCC President to the ED office. He arrived at the ED office around 10.55 am.

Sudhakaran visited the ED office in the money laundering case after A C Moideen underwent ED interrogation in the Karuvannur case. ‘Let Moideen be there. Moideen said he came as instructed. We will not cross paths. Both cases are separate,’ K Sudhakaran responded to the media.

Earlier on August 30, the ED had requested K Sudhakaran to provide banking transaction information for the past five years. However, Sudhakaran informed them that he could not attend due to the organization of the Puthupally by-elections. During his initial appearance, Sudhakaran was interrogated for nine hours. He maintained that there is no evidence against him and the possibility of any wrongdoing is non-existent.

Monson's former employee, Jinson had testified that Sudhakaran received Rs 10 lakh from Monson Mavungal's residence in Kalur. Anoop, the complainant in the case also claimed that the money was handed over in November 2018. However, Sudhakaran denied these allegations. Sudhakaran is being questioned regarding financial transactions including these claims.

The ED's involvement follows a crime branch investigation into the scams associated with Monson. The ED will investigate whether black money and hawala money were involved in transactions worth crores. The Crime Branch has named K Sudhakaran as one of the accused. The ED is also interrogating police officers in connection with this case.