Kochi: The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which is probing the alleged fraudulent transactions involving Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) – a black sand mining company, is set to file a second prosecution complaint against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena. The prosecution complaint is akin to a police chargesheet, and the accused will be summoned for trial once the court accepts the complaint.

The complaint, to be filed before a Bengaluru court that handles SFIO cases, will name Exalogic Solutions, an IT company owned by Veena, as the key accused. The SFIO alleges that Exalogic cheated Empower India Capital Investment Private Limited, a sister concern of CMRL, by securing a loan and subsequently winding up operations.

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Prosecution complaint in Kochi
The SFIO had on Thursday filed a prosecution complaint in the CMRL bribery case in front of the Economic Offences Court, Kochi. The SFIO has lined up 27 accused, and among them are Veena Vijayan and her company Exalogic Solutions. A large chunk of the accused list is made up of top CMRL officials including its MD Sasidharan Kartha.

Veena and her company have been charged with section 447 of the Companies Act in the 160-page SFIO chargesheet. This section deals with the punishment of fraud committed by a person or entity, and applies to fraud involving at least Rs 10 lakh or 1 per cent of a company's turnover, whichever is lower. The punishment under this section is imprisonment ranging from six months to 10 years.

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Investigators say the fraudulent operations were routed through two intermediary firms--Nipuna International Private Limited and Sasja India Private Limited.

The court is expected to issue summons soon to those named in the charge sheet. This is the first-ever charge sheet filed by the SFIO in Kerala for financial irregularities under the Companies Act. The central agency, which investigates large-scale corporate frauds, took over the probe after the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs handed over the CMRL case. SFIO cases are heard by courts designated with the status of a Sessions Court in each state.

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