The ED and the Intelligence Bureau will investigate a controversy that involves Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena Vijayan and the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited.
ED & Intelligence Agencies to probe scam involving @CMOKerala 's daughter & CMRL
1.72 crore were given to Veena Vijayan's company Exalogic without availing any services in which 55 lakh was given to Veena Vijayan's account pic.twitter.com/mI6aiUjisP
— HKupdate (@HKupdate) August 13, 2023
Veena Vijayan allegedly received ₹1.72 crores monthly from a private company called Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) over 3 years from 2017-2020. The ED investigation follows the findings released by the Dispute Resolution Committee of the Income Tax Department regarding the money transactions between Veena and CMRL. It is reported that the ED will also investigate the financial transactions of Veena’s company Exalogic.
The controversy was ignited after the Income Tax department found out that Veena Vijayan had received money in monthly installments. The Income Tax Interim Settlement Board had found that CMRL had paid money to Veena in consideration of her relationship with a prominent person.
CMRL had signed an agreement with Veena and her firm Exalogic Solutions in December 2016 for IT and marketing consultancy services and another agreement was signed in March 2017 with Exalogic for software services. Veena and Exalogic received a total of ₹1.72 crore during 2017-20. Of this ₹55 lakh was given by the company only to Veena.
But CMRL’s Chief Financial Officers testified that they were not aware of receiving any contractual services in return for payment of this amount. The company later tried to retract this statement through an affidavit. payment of business expenses is permissible under the Income Tax Act. However, the bench accepted the contention of the Income Tax Department that the payment made on behalf of Veena and the company was illegal.
It is to be noted that P.A. Mohamed Riyas, who holds the position of the Minister of Public Works Department and Tourism in the Pinarayi Vijayan LDF government is Veena’s husband.
After working at Oracle for a while, Veena’s career quickly soared when she became the CEO of RP TechSoft International. This company belonged to a rich businessperson named Ravi Pillai. Subsequently, she took on the role of founder and CEO at Exalogic Solutions in Bangalore, a position she has held for the past seven years.
Veena is currently embroiled in a series of controversies concerning her business transactions.
The Kerala Congress has called for a judicial probe into the allegations.
(With inputs from Janam TV & OnManorama)
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