CMRL pay-off case: ED questions company MD’s daughter

Shiby S. Kartha, daughter of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) managing director Sasidharan S. Kartha, was questioned by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) here on Monday in connection with the money-laundering case linked to the CMRL pay-off case.

She is one of the directors of a company associated with CMRL. The central agency had earlier asked Veena T., daughter of former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to appear for questioning on June 17 as part of the probe into the alleged pay-off case involving Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, her now-defunct firm, and CMRL.

The ED is learnt to have asked Ms. Shibi about the alleged fictitious expenses involving the CMRL and the company associated with her. She was also told to submit the documents related to the alleged financial transactions between the firms. The ED had also issued notices to Mr. Kartha, Saran S. Kartha, his son and joint managing director, and senior officials of the company to appear for questioning. The probe pertains to allegations that CMRL made payments amounting to ₹2.78 crore to Exalogic without receiving any services in return.

The agency had on May 27, 2026 raided the residences of Mr. Vijayan in Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram as part of the probe into whether Ms. Veena’s firm had received sizeable monthly retainers from CMRL, a private mining company, during the 2017-2021 period allegedly without rendering any tangible service.

According to the ED, another company, Empower India Capital Investments Private Limited (EICPL), operated by Mr. Kartha, had extended loans worth ₹50 lakh to Exalogic despite the company allegedly failing to make timely repayments.

The ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of a prosecution complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office before a court in Ernakulam in April 2025. During the course of the raids, the ED had frozen ₹18.36 crore in 242 accounts identified during the search operations held in the pay-off case. It had claimed that the searches held as part of the probe yielded several incriminating records, accounts, digital evidences, investments and fixed deposits in banks.