CMRL-Exalogic case: ED to receive copies of SFIO files

Kochi: A special court considering cases under Companies Act on Monday allowed a petition moved by the enforcement directorate (ED), seeking copies of the documents submitted by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in the CMRL-Exalogic case.

CMRL’s counsel objected to the ED’s demand even as the SFIO counsel submitted that the agency had no objection to handing over the documents to ED. The court dismissed the objection raised by CMRL and allowed the ED’s petition, which was moved through special public prosecutor M J Santhosh on Saturday.

The ED sought copies of the entire 57 volumes of documents that SFIO compiled following its investigation.

According to ED, the Income Tax Department carried out a search at Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd in Jan 2019, during which certain fake expenses to the extent of about Rs 130 crore were allegedly identified. CMRL also admitted the fake expenses before the Income Tax Settlement Commission. In its order, the Income Tax Settlement Commission has given a finding of various bribes by CMRL to various persons and the admissions made by CMRL personnel, ED says.

ED initiated its probe into the matter under PMLA based on the SFIO-initiated investigations. The SFIO filed prosecution complaint on April 3, 2025, for corporate fraud against Sasidharan Kartha and 12 others before the additional sessions court-VII, Ernakulam.

According to an ED statement, SFIO investigations also revealed fictitious cash expenses of Rs 182 crore over a span of 15 years, which was used for bribing various persons. The agency says that one of the fake expenses booked by CMRL was towards the payment to Veena T, daughter of Pinarayi Vijayan, ex-chief minister of Kerala. The company of Veena, Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, received fraudulent payments totalling Rs 2.78 crore from CMRL under the guise of IT consultancy services, says ED.