Kochi: Sharpening its attack on Pinarayi Vijayan in the Exalogic case, the Congress on Tuesday posed five questions to the Kerala Chief Minister. At a press meet in Kochi, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan said a tacit understanding with the BJP helped the CPM hide from the public the ED probe for over three years.
The renewed attack comes a day after Veena T, Pinarayi's daughter and the director of the Bengaluru-based IT firm Exalogc, appeared before the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in Chennai to give a statement regarding the ongoing investigation into financial irregularities of her firm.
"Pinarayi told the Assembly that many agencies had investigated into the company's financial dealings earlier. When I asked him to spell out the names of these agencies, he kept quiet.
"According to the recent order issued by the Karnataka HC (rejecting Exalogic's pleas against the SFIO probe), it said that the Registrar of Companies (RoC) started investigating the company based on the probe report submitted by ED in 2021. It is evident that the anti-money laundering agency was probing the case before the term of the current assembly began. "Is it not the tacit understanding between the BJP and the CPM that helped the government hide from the public the ED probe for three years?" he said.
"It is already known that Exalogic got the money from CMRL (the Kochi-based rutile mining company) without offering any service. That is the core of the case. In the Assembly, the CM said the IT interim settlement board did not give Exalogic the opportunity to present its case. But the RoC probe has now revealed that the firm was given all available chances.
"So our second question is whether the CM is ready to reveal the number of agencies that have investigated the Exalogic dealings," Satheesan said.
The third question is the most important one, he said before posing the query. "The Karnataka High Court order clearly mentions that apart from CMRL other companies too had sent money to Exalogic. Can CM say which are the other companies that paid Exalogic?" he said.
"Has the Kerala government given and tax exemption to any of the companies that paid money to Exalogic without receiving services," was the fourth question he posed.
He also raised the connection between the NBFC Empower
India Capital Investments Pvt. Ltd and Exalogic. "Empower India is an NBFC and is part of CMRL. Exalogc has taken a huge loan from the entity. The probe has revealed that a large chunk of this advance was not reflected in Exalogic's account. Where has this money gone, is our fifth question," he said.
"We demand the CM to give clear answers to these five questions," Satheesan said.
Exalogic-CMRL case
A controversy erupted in Kerala after Malayalam Manorama reported last year that CMRL had paid a total of Rs 1.72 crore to the chief minister's daughter's firm between 2017 and 2020. The news report cited the ruling of an interim board for settlement and said that CMRL previously had an agreement with Veena's IT firm for consultancy and software support services.
It also alleged that though no service was rendered by her firm, the amount was paid on a monthly basis "due to her relationship with a prominent person". The report also cited findings by the Registrar of Companies (ROC) against her firm.
The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs had asked the SFIO to investigate the company, which the firm had challenged in the Karnataka High Court. Justice M Nagaprasanna of the Karnataka High Court dismissed the petition.
