The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has leveled serious charges against T Veena, daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in connection with financial irregularities involving a publicly held company. According to the SFIO’s final complaint filed before a special court in Kochi earlier this month, Veena allegedly diverted funds from Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) to repay a private debt, causing a financial loss to the company.
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. Instead, they were routed to settle a Rs 50 lakh liability that Exalogic owed to Empower India Capital Investments Pvt Ltd (EICIPL), a firm owned by Sasidharan Kartha — the Managing Director of CMRL.
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.”
The chain of transactions dates back to 2015, when EICIPL first extended a Rs 25 lakh loan to Exalogic. Despite no repayments being made, a second Rs 25 lakh loan was sanctioned in August 2016. Exalogic repaid only Rs 4 lakh of the total Rs 50 lakh, according to the complaint.
Meanwhile, CMRL was reportedly paying Rs 5 lakh monthly to Veena and another Rs 3 lakh to her firm Exalogic, which SFIO says was then used to service the debt with EICIPL.
Crucially, the SFIO points to email records between the companies that focused primarily on generating invoices and processing payments rather than actual work being done, suggesting that the consultancy agreements may have been a front.
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.