The Directorate of Enforcement the (ED) has said that it has frozen ₹18.36 crore in 242 accounts identified during the search operations held in the Exalogic-Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited pay-off case on Wednesday.

Intelligence gathered by ED showed that T. Veena, daughter of Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan was residing with her father Mr. Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram. The premises where she was residing was covered in the raids, the ED said.

The ED, in a press release, claimed that the search yielded several incriminating records, accounts, digital evidences, investments and fixed deposits in banks. The evidence recovered were being analysed.

During the search operation, one of the ED search teams was attacked by a group of people after the conclusion of the search operation at the premises of Ms. Veena and Mr. Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram. The crowd attacked the ED team’s cars with bricks and iron rods without any provocation, the statement said.

The attack was the result of a conspiracy and not a spontaneous reaction. The three cars in which ED search team and CRPF personnel were travelling were attacked and vandalised. One of the drivers of the car suffered eye injury during the attack, it said.

The ED followed due process and did not resist the crowd nor the CRPF personnel used any aggression on the crowd. ED has lodged FIR with the Thiruvananthapuram Police for legal action against the attackers, it said.

Simultaneous raids were conducted across 10 locations in Kerala and Bengaluru on Wednesday in connection with an alleged pay-off case involving Exalogic Solutions, a firm owned by Ms. Veena.

Premises linked to the management of the CMRL and Ms. Veena in Kannur, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, and Bengaluru were searched. The seized documents were examined.

Proceeds of crime

Previous investigations by the ED claimed to have established that proceeds of crime were generated by the management of the CMRL, led by S.N. Sasidharan Kartha, along with Ms. Veena. Accordingly, search operations were conducted to gather evidence of money laundering, the agency sources indicated.

The Kerala High Court, while dismissing a writ petition filed by the CMRL on Tuesday, held that investigations initiated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) remain valid as they do not require a predicate offence. The court further observed that, as of the date of judgment, a predicate offence existed since the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) had filed its prosecution complaint with a scheduled offence under the PMLA.

The CMRL, whose office in Aluva was raided by the ED on Wednesday, first came under the scanner of enforcement agencies after the Income Tax department seized documents related to allegedly fake expenses amounting to ₹130 crore during a raid in January 2019.

Mr. Sasidharan Kartha, the managing director, and his son, Saran S. Kartha, the joint managing director, hold substantial control over the company, which is publicly listed with 48.75% of shares held by the general public and 13.41% by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, a State public sector undertaking. The managing director’s residence in Aluva was also searched by the ED officials, sources indicated.

Fake expenses

The sources indicated that the CMRL admitted to the fake expenses before the Income Tax Settlement Commission. Subsequently, the SFIO under the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs launched a probe based on the Income Tax department’s findings. The ED also initiated investigations under the PMLA. However, the CMRL challenged this before the High Court on the ground that there was no predicate offence, and the court had directed the ED not to take coercive action in this case on April 12, 2024, it said.

The SFIO filed a prosecution complaint invoking charges under the PMLA for corporate fraud against Mr. Sasidharan Kartha and 12 others before the Additional Sessions Court – VII, Ernakulam, on April 3, 2025. According to the SFIO, Mr. Sasidharan Kartha and his son received cumulative remuneration of ₹30.63 crore between 2015-16 and 2022-23, despite no dividend payments. The agency also claimed to have uncovered alleged fictitious cash expenses of ₹182 crore over 15 years. It was further alleged that the CMRL paid ₹91 crore towards transport services to companies owned by Mr. Sasidharan Kartha’s family, sources indicated.

One of the alleged fake expenses was the payment to Ms. Veena. Ms. Veena’s company, incidentally a one-person company, allegedly received fraudulent payments of ₹2.78 crore from the CMRL under the guise of IT consultancy services. Further, Empower India Capital Investment Private Limited (EICPL), operated by Mr. Sasidharan Kartha, allegedly extended loans totalling ₹50 lakh to Exalogic despite its failure in making timely repayments, according to sources.