Ranit Kr. Singh , Thiruvananthapuram — The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here, seeking access to documents gathered by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) regarding a money laundering case involving Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) and Veena T, daughter of former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Filed in Kochi, the ED’s petition requests copies of records concerning Veena’s IT consultancy firm, Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, which the SFIO collected while investigating allegedly fictitious expenses admitted by CMRL before the Income Tax Settlement Commission. The agency aims to inspect these files to advance its own probe into the financial transactions between the mineral company and Exalogic, with the local court expected to consider the request next week.

This multi-agency scrutiny originated from a January 2019 Income Tax Department raid that uncovered approximately ₹130 crore in suspected fictitious expenses, which CMRL later admitted before the settlement commission, prompting the SFIO's corporate fraud investigation. In April 2025, the SFIO filed a formal prosecution complaint in Ernakulam, alleging that CMRL recorded ₹182 crore in fictitious cash expenses over 15 years and routed ₹91 crore for transportation to firms owned by CMRL Managing Director Sasidharan Kartha's family. Basing its current PMLA case on this SFIO complaint, the ED recently intensified its investigation by conducting searches at 10 locations tied to the case, including premises linked to Veena T and her husband, former minister P A Mohammed Riyas.

ED sources said the requested documents include records of Exalogic Solutions, the IT firm owned by Veena. The agency has alleged that CMRL management, led by Sasidharan Kartha, and Veena generated "proceeds of crime" through these transactions. According to the ED, another company, Empower India Capital Investments Private Limited, operated by Kartha, had extended loans worth ₹50 lakh to Exalogic despite the company allegedly failing to make timely repayments. Officials said these expenses were later admitted by CMRL before the Income Tax Settlement Commission, following which a complaint was referred to the SFIO for investigation. The ED probe pertains to allegations that CMRL made payments amounting to ₹2.78 crore to Exalogic Solutions Private Limited without receiving any services in return.