Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan was named the chargesheet by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) as an accused in the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) financial fraud case.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has reportedly granted sanction for prosecuting against Veena Vijayan and the others named in the chargesheet for allegedly making fraudulent payments of Rs 2.7 crore.
Kerala Law Minister P Rajeev said that the naming is "politically motivated".
What Does The SFIO Chargesheet Say?
According to the reports, the SFIO investigation has uncovered a Rs 182 crore financial fraud within the mining company, in which several others are also accused.
It stated that the fraud was carried out by inflating non-existent expenses and creating fake bills.
The reports also claimed that the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs has granted approval for prosecution proceedings.
Bar and Bench reported that as per the SFIO chargesheet, Exalogic Solutions failed to deliver IT and marketing-related services for which it received a sum of ₹2.7 crore from CMRL.
The fraudulent scheme was allegedly facilitated through two companies namely, Nipuna International Private Limited and Sasja India Private Limited.
The chargesheet has not just named Veena Vijayan but also names Exalogic, CMRL's Managing Director Sasidharan Kartha, CMRL itself, and a sister company in connection with the case.
Multiple charges under the Companies Act 2013 has been levelled by the SFIO against the accused individuals for payment of fraudulent expenses without any actual services rendered or costs being incurred.
Veena Vijayan serves as a director at Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd and fraudulent payments of ₹2.7 crore made to her as per SFIO which they have reportedly questioned for not rendering any actual service.
The SFIO has charged her under Section 447 of the Companies Act which deals with punishment for fraud, as per reports.
This provision carries stringent penalties including imprisonment up to 10 years and fine that can extend to three times the amount involved in the fraud.
The chargesheet has also invoked Section 447, 448 (punishment for false statement), 129 (financial statement) and 134 (financial statement, board's report, etc) of the Companies Act against the other accused.
Chronology Of The Case
The development came nearly a week after the Kerala High Court dismissed a plea by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan seeking a probe against Vijayan over the alleged financial transactions between his daughter's now defunct IT firm and the private mining company.
Kuzhalnadan had moved the High Court against a vigilance court order rejecting his plea for an investigation against Vijayan over the alleged financial transactions.
The High Court had dismissed the plea saying that the MLA "failed" to place before the vigilance court the facts constituting the offence of corruption alleged by him against the CM, his daughter and her IT firm.
Reactions
Rajeev said that already three vigilance courts and the Kerala High Court have said that there was no evidence of corruption in connection with the alleged financial transactions between private mining company Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) and Veena's now-defunct IT firm, Exalogic.
"So, the judicial system and the public have given a clean chit to the state government and the CM in the matter. Therefore, obviously, what has happened is politically motivated against the party and the government," he told reporters in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
He contended that it also indicated the use of probe agencies for political purposes as other findings in the probe carried out by the SFIO have not been revealed.
Following reports of Veena being named by the SFIO in the "illegal payment" scandal, the Congress and the BJP on Thursday had demanded the resignation of Vijayan as CM.
Neither the Chief Minister, who is currently in Madurai, nor Veena have reacted to the reports claiming that the investigation found that she had received Rs 2.70 crore from a private mining company without providing any services.
