Published Jul 25, 2026 | 5:20 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 25, 2026 | 5:20 PM
Pinarayi Vijayan
Synopsis: A resurfaced ED statement claims that CMRL founder SN Sasidharan Kartha told investigators that payments to T Veena and Exalogic were made because of his personal relationship with Pinarayi Vijayan, a claim the former Chief Minister has dismissed as “media creativity.” The statement has brought renewed attention to the agency’s money laundering probe into the CMRL-Exalogic transactions.
An Enforcement Directorate (ED) statement recorded more than two years ago has resurfaced at a crucial stage of the agency’s money laundering investigation into the alleged financial transactions between Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) and Exalogic Solutions.
The statement had placed renewed focus on Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter T Veena, and the progress of the case.
The statement was given by CMRL founder and former Managing Director SN Sasidharan Kartha in April 2024.
Recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on 17 April 2024, the statement is likely to become one of the principal pieces of evidence to be relied upon by the ED.
According to the agency, Kartha admitted that payments made to Veena and Exalogic were not backed by any actual services. He is also stated to have told investigators that the payments were made because of his personal relationship with her father, the then Chief Minister Vijayan.
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The ED said Kartha admitted that Exalogic had not provided Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or any other software-related services to CMRL despite receiving regular monthly payments.
Investigators alleged that Veena received ₹5 lakh every month, while Exalogic received another ₹3 lakh per month under the arrangement.
The statement also refered to a ₹50 lakh loan allegedly extended to Exalogic by Empower India Capital Investments Pvt. Ltd. (EICPL), a non-banking financial company owned and operated by Kartha.
The statement has now emerged in the public domain after the ED’s recent rounds of questioning of Veena, inspection of her bank locker, freezing of accounts linked to the case, and examination of documents obtained from the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).
According to the ED, the investigation centres on payments amounting to around ₹2.78 crore allegedly made by CMRL to Veena and her company, Exalogic, between 2017 and 2020 in the name of consultancy and software services that investigators say were never actually rendered.
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The agency has linked the Exalogic transactions to what it described as a much larger scheme involving diversion of funds from CMRL.
ED said Kartha exercised complete control over the company and orchestrated a layered cash misappropriation scheme involving about ₹182 crore over a period of nearly 15 years.
The agency alleged that ₹139 crore was shown as fictitious sludge handling and transportation expenses using self-generated vouchers without supporting invoices, while another ₹43 crore was siphoned off through inflated vendor bills. According to the ED, vendors allegedly withdrew cash and returned the excess amount to company officials after retaining commissions.
The agency described these as circular transactions in which money left CMRL’s bank accounts only to return in cash.
Within this broader investigation, the ED has identified the ₹2.78 crore paid to Veena and Exalogic as “bogus expenses” booked towards software services that allegedly never existed.
The ED further stated that admissions made by Kartha and others, along with Veena’s statement, indicated that no deliverables were provided to CMRL despite the payments.
According to the agency, Veena could not point to any tangible work performed by Exalogic in return for the consultancy payments.
Investigators have also claimed that Exalogic functioned on a fragile financial footing, with a reported negative net worth of ₹66 lakh and a standalone business turnover of only about ₹5 lakh, making it financially dependent on funds received from CMRL.
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The resurfacing of Kartha’s statement comes weeks after the ED subjected Veena to two rounds of questioning in Kochi that together lasted close to 20 hours.
She had originally been summoned to appear on 12 June but sought additional time citing health-related reasons. The ED rejected her request to submit documents through legal representatives and insisted on her personal appearance.
During questioning, officials sought explanations regarding the ₹2.78 crore transferred from CMRL to Exalogic and asked why the payments were credited to the company’s bank accounts.
Sources said Veena told investigators that she had no personal knowledge of the day-to-day financial operations of Exalogic during the relevant period and that employees handling the company’s affairs would be better placed to answer questions relating to the transactions.
She was also questioned about the ₹50 lakh loan allegedly received through Empower India Capital Investments.
The ED has indicated that she may be summoned again after examining additional documents.
A few days after her first appearance before the agency on 17 June, ED officials inspected Veena’s bank locker at an HDFC Bank branch near Ayurveda College in Thiruvananthapuram.
An ED team, accompanied by security personnel, opened the locker as part of the ongoing money laundering investigation.
According to agency sources, the inspection followed discrepancies that allegedly emerged during questioning and formed part of efforts to verify financial transactions connected to the case.
The ED has already frozen 242 bank accounts linked to the investigation involving approximately ₹18.36 crore, including one account belonging to Veena.
Veena again appeared before the ED in Kochi on 25 June for a second round of questioning.
Officials questioned her after receiving 134 documents from the SFIO, including contracts executed between Exalogic and CMRL, income tax returns and financial statements.
The records had been transferred after a delay despite earlier court directions.
According to sources, investigators confronted Veena with alleged inconsistencies between her earlier statements and the documents received from the SFIO.
The questioning reportedly focused on the consultancy agreements, utilisation of the ₹2.78 crore received from CMRL between 2016 and 2021, and the ₹50 lakh loan from Empower India Capital.
The ED had also questioned Kartha’s family members associated with CMRL and Empower India Capital as part of the investigation.
Officials have indicated that the future course of the probe will depend on the statements collected and analysis of financial records.
No arrests have been made in the ED investigation since it began in 2024.
The agency has not ruled out summoning Veena again as the investigation progresses. Sources have indicated that ED Director Rahul Naveen is directly monitoring the probe, underlining the significance the agency attaches to the case.
Responding to the development on Saturday, 25 July, Vijayan dismissed the reported contents of the statement, alleging that it was nothing more than “media creativity” and questioning both its source and authenticity.
He called it part of an attempt to link him to what he described as a false case.
“Who released this statement? What’s its authenticity? Media creates such reports and generate news reports. In the past also such creativity was made against me. They (ED) are trying to somehow connect me to this false case,” Vijayan said.
He maintained that similar attempts had been made against him in the past and suggested that the latest reports were aimed at drawing him into the ongoing ED investigation.
Even as Vijayan sought to dismiss the reported ED statement, some within the CPI(M) privately felt his response also served a political purpose.
They argued that by portraying the excerpted statement as an attempt to personally target him, Vijayan is once again seeking to rally the party rank and file and its wider support base around what is projected as a politically motivated investigation.
The issue had earlier triggered internal discussions within the party following an incident in which ED officials were attacked outside Vijayan’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram during the course of the investigation.
At the time, sections of the party were understood to have questioned whether the organisation should expend its political capital and organisational resources defending a probe centred on the financial dealings of the former Chief Minister’s daughter rather than an issue directly involving the party or the then Left government.
Against that backdrop, some within the party viewed Vijayan’s latest remarks as an attempt to shift the political narrative again from an investigation focused on Veena and the CMRL-Exalogic transactions to one in which he himself is portrayed as the principal target of central investigative agencies.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
