The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is all set to intensify its money-laundering investigation into the CMRL-Exalogic financial transactions after a division bench of the Kerala High Court dismissed an appeal by the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) seeking to block the probe.
Armed with the Kerala High Court’s favourable verdict, the ED plans to finalise a strict timeline to issue official notices and summon Veena Vijayan for questioning regarding the Rs 1.72 crore transaction. The agency will also issue summons to top officials of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) to cross-examine them using new data recovered from recent raids.
ED Director Rahul Navin on Friday reviewed the investigation’s progress during a high-level meeting held in Kochi. Top ED officials attended the meeting. The high-level meeting also reviewed detailed legal briefs from the ED’s core legal team and discussed legal strategies presented by that team.
The strategy is to keep the probe legally unassailable to counter any impending appeals that CMRL or related parties might file in the Supreme Court.
The meeting evaluated evidence packed in sealed covers from the May 27 multi-city raids. This data will be used to explicitly map how the money constitutes “proceeds of crime” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The meeting addressed the recent violent backlash in Thiruvananthapuram, where CPM workers allegedly attacked ED officials and vandalized their vehicles.
Beyond the CMRL-Exalogic case, ED Director Rahul Navin used the high-level meeting—the first by an ED chief to Kerala in nearly five years—to audit the progress of other high-stakes financial crimes in the state.
The review session streamlined the ongoing investigations into local cooperative bank scams and other high-profile money laundering networks in the state.
On Friday, the High Court dismissed an appeal filed by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) and its officials seeking to quash the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case against them concerning alleged money laundering linked to Exalogic Solutions Ltd, a company owned by Veena Vijayan, daughter of former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.