Firestorm erupts over Kerala CM’s daughter: ED set to slap money laundering case against T Veena

Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi 9 april 2025: In a snowballing controversy that has shaken Kerala’s political scene, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to tighten the noose around T Veena, daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, by filing a money laundering case in connection with explosive revelations of alleged financial impropriety.

The new development follows a damning chargesheet lodged by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which charges that Veena’s defunct IT company, Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, received a staggering Rs 2.7 crore  from Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL)— funds purportedly paid for IT services that were never provided. The investigation has taken a critical path, with the SFIO invoking Section 447 of the Companies Act (punishment for fraud) — a predicate offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) — setting the stage for ED to act.

“We have sought case files from SFIO. A money laundering case will be booked once they have gone through the documents,” admitted a senior official of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), indicating  a new tempest is all set to unleash over Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

The money laundering scandal goes back to 2018-19 when Exalogic Solutions purportedly took Rs 1.72 crore in “illegal payments”which was first indicated by an Income Tax investigation in 2023.That investigation triggered a chain reaction, with central agencies such as the SFIO pouncing on the scene. The Karnataka High Court had previously dismissed an application by Veena’s company asking for an end to the investigation, again reducing the legal noose tighter around her neck.

Fanning the flames,  SFIO officials exposed in court that CMRL had paid Rs 135 crore to several political leaders, purportedly including the payment to Exalogic. The expose has provided ammo to opposition parties with blood in their eyes.

BJP and Congress leaders have come out swinging, calling for CM Vijayan to resign at once. “This is nothing short of an epic scandal. The Chief Minister should resign,” BJP spokesperson bellowed. The Congress repeated the same demands, terming it a “serious breach of public trust.”

But the CPI(M) has struck back hard, calling the investigation a “politically motivated witch-hunt”. In an incandescent interview, freshly elected CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby alleged the case was concocted to defame Vijayan. “This is a direct attempt to decapitate the CPI(M) and topple the LDF government by targeting its head — Chief Minister Vijayan,” Baby asserted.

Internal sources in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) have put some distance between the CM and the case, with the issue being personal and Veena will contest it legally. But now that the ED has joined the fray, pressure is building, and the political consequences could be seismic.As Kerala prepares to take the brunt, the question hangs in the balance: Is this the start of the end for one of the state’s most influential political dynasties? Or just another page in India’s never-ending war of political vendetta?

Stay tuned. This drama is far from over.