New Delhi: K S Suresh Kumar, Chief Financial Officer of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), gave a statement to the Income Tax Department that money was handed over to political leaders belonging to both ruling and opposition fronts to overcome the threat of disrupting businesses that cause environmental harm, official records have revealed.
The document recovered by the Income Tax Department from Suresh Kumar's house has abbreviations such as PV, OC, RC, KK, and IK. Suresh deposed that these abbreviations refer to the names of Pinarayi Vijayan, Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala, P K Kunhalikutty, and VK Ibrahim Kunju.
I don't know anything about the controversial deal. I haven't received any notice from anyone. No money transaction was made with Veena.
Sasidharan Kartha, MD, CMRL
Based on the documents collected, the Income Tax Department told the Settlement Board that Suresh Kumar had recorded details such as the day, how much money was paid to whom and so forth as per the instructions of MD Sasidharan Kartha.
Sasidharan Kartha, MD, CMRL said, “I don't know anything about the controversial deal. I haven't received any notice from anyone. No money transaction was made with Veena."
Most of the names in the documents were handed over to the settlement board as secret documents. Not only leaders but IAS and IPS officers, media houses, and journalists are on the list.
The details of the money given were found in the documents that the Income Tax Department had recovered from the bedroom of Suresh's house on January 25, 2019.
Among the answers given by Suresh Kumar during questioning include the following:
- We use ilmenite as the raw material. There are many threats that business will be disrupted because it causes environmental issues.
- As per the instructions of MD Sasidharan Kartha, General Manager (Finance) P Suresh Kumar or I (K S Suresh Kumar) delivered the money to the office or home of the individuals. Sometimes it was given to their representatives in our office. The Income Tax Department has found that CMRL has evaded taxes on a large scale by exaggerating its expenses. It was also observed that many of these expenses were exaggerated in order to give crores of rupees illegally to many people.
Veena Vijayan gets Rs 1.72 crore from CMRL
In a Malayala Manorama expose, it was revealed that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter, T Veena, allegedly received Rs 1.72 crore from the private company Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) in monthly instalments in the last three years. The New Delhi bench of the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board ruled that the money was given considering the relationship with a "prominent person".
Veena and her firm, Exalogic Solutions, had entered into an agreement with the CMRL to provide IT, marketing consultancy, and software services to the latter. However, no services were provided, as the income tax investigation found. CMRL Managing Director S N Sasidharan Kartha told the Income Tax Department that the money was, however, paid in monthly instalments as per the contract. The Income Tax Department argued that Rs 1.72 crore was received by Veena and Exalogic during 2017–20, which is an "illegal transaction".
