The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has leveled serious charges against Veena T (VeenaVijayan), daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) – Exalogic Solutions monthly pay-off case.

According to the SFIO’s prosecution complaint(charge sheet )filed at the Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court earlier this month, Veena allegedly diverted funds she received from Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) to settle the debt of her firm Exalogic Solutions Private Limited with Empower India Capital Investments Private Limited (EICIPL), a company run by Sasidharan Kartha, managing director of CMRL, and caused a financial loss to CMRL, a publicly held company.

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The charge sheet says that the diversion of funds effectively transferred Rs.50 lakh liability from the EICIPL to CMRL, causing financial loss to CMRL.

Veena is the founder and director of Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, which had received funds from CMRL for IT and marketing consultancy services. But the SFIO alleges these payments were not for any actual services rendered

The charge sheet pointed out that EICIPL had extended Exalogic a bank loan of Rs.25 lakh on August 5, 2015. The payment was transferred to the account of Exalogic on August 6, 2015. The repayment was scheduled to begin on August 1, 2016 in 24 instalments with an interest rate of 12%.

“However, Exalogic did not make any repayment as on 28.8.2016. Despite this, EICIPL sanctioned another loan of Rs.25 lakh to Exalogic, which was disbursed on 29.8.2016. It was after the second loan that Exalogic repaid Rs.4 lakh to EICIPL on 13.11. 2016,” the SFIO says

The agency had reported that CMRL had made a monthly payment of Rs.5 lakh to Veena and Rs.3 lakh to her firm, Exalogic, as retainer for IT and marketing consultancy services. “The bank records indicated that funds paid by CMRL to Exalogic were redirected to cover Exalogic’s debt with EICIPL,” says the charge sheet

The SFIO contends that this effectively shifted a private loan liability onto a publicly held company, calling it a “deliberate misuse of consultancy agreements for financial gains.”

CMRL managing director Sasidharan Kartha has been named the first accused in the case, while Veena is the 11th accused. The SFIO has charged the individuals and the three companies — CMRL, Exalogic and EICIPL — under Section 447 of the Companies Act, which pertains to fraud involving any act done with intent to deceive or gain undue advantage.

The SFIO investigation has also uncovered irregularities in CMRL’s financial transactions. It has been found that the company transferred approximately Rs 182 crore to political leaders. Its investigation has also found that Kartha’s son-in-law Anil Anandapanikkar received Rs 13 crore as commission.

An earlier probe by the Income Tax Department and the subsequent order by the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board(ITISB) had concluded that Rs 1.72 crore was received by Veena Vijayan and her company without rendering any services. Investigations found that private mineral company CMRL committed a fraud amounting to Rs 197.7 crore, which included payments to Veena, her company, and other political figures.