Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has told a special court dealing with money laundering cases that there is evidence that Bineesh Kodiyeri had indulged in hawala transactions of over Rs 3.5 crore with Anoop Mohammad, the Kochi native who has been arrested in the Bengaluru drugs case.
Bineesh, the son of CPM Kerala secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, is also in the custody of the ED in the case. He was arrested on October 29.
From 2012 to 2019, there were illegal transactions of more than Rs 5 crore between the two, including the hawala transfers of Rs 3.5 crore. Most of this amount was raised through drug dealing. Bineesh, however, has refused to give details about these transactions, the ED said when he was produced in the special court after his four-day remand period expired.
The court did not accept Bineesh's contention that he had health problems and that the case was politically motivated. He was then remanded in ED’s custody for five more days until Saturday. The ED had demanded custody for 10 more days.
The agency produced Bineesh's health certificate in court. The court directed that his health condition be assessed every 24 hours.
Special Public Prosecutor P Prasannakumar told the court that Bineesh was avoiding many questions citing health issues. For the past two-and-a-half days, he has been completely uncooperative, claiming to be in poor health due to back pain and vomiting, he said.
Bineesh is a regular offender as he has 10 cases against him in Kerala and one case in Dubai. He had started two benami companies in Kerala and abroad connected with event management. They are in the names of Anoop and Rijesh Raveendran, the other Malayalee from Thiruvilwamala in Thrissur arrested in the drugs case. The ED said inconsistencies in his tax returns also need to be investigated.
According to the ED, Anoop has, in his statement, said that he became friends with Bineesh through drugs use.
