Crime Branch investigation against Pinarayi, daughter Veena, son-in-law and former minister Riyas
Introductory Memo: The article reports that, following a request from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Kerala government has ordered a Crime Branch investigation into alleged financial irregularities involving CMRL and Exalogic, with former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T Veena, and former minister and MLA P A Mohammed Riyas among those named in the ED’s allegations. The ED reportedly submitted a 25-page letter containing financial records, WhatsApp chats, statements and other material, alleging that payments to Veena and transactions linked to Riyas may involve bribery and hawala transfers, including alleged movement of funds to Dubai. The article says an Advocate General’s legal opinion supported further investigation and indicated that previous investigations would not prevent a new probe. It also reports that the ED is preparing a chargesheet in the related money-laundering case, while some individuals have alleged that ED officials pressured them into making statements, a claim disputed by the agency. The allegations concerning Veena’s diary, overseas transactions, Riyas’s associates and a WhatsApp group allegedly connected to hawala dealings are presented as key areas for investigation, while claims that other UDF ministers could also face scrutiny remain allegations and political assertions rather than established findings.
Analytical view/ Analysis: First time a Chief Minister CPM Polit Bureau member and family is on investigation in corruption case. Case on Riyas,son in law of Pinarayi and former minister is of hawala dealings. It is also first time.It will have far reaching impact in Kerala politics and CPM
Crime Branch investigation against
Pinarayi, daughter Veena, son-in-law and former minister Riyas
Following the Enforcement Directorate’s request, the state government has announced an investigation into the CMRL-Exalogic monthly payment controversy. The Crime Branch ADGP has been entrusted with the investigation. The investigation is against former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his son-in-law and former minister P A Mohammed Riyas, and his wife and Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter T Veena. Following a high-level discussion attended by Chief Minister V D Satheesan and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, DGP Ravada Chandrasekhar was given instructions in this regard. Based on the Enforcement Directorate’s letter, Advocate General Jaju Babu’s legal opinion was received by the Home Secretary the other day. Before submitting the report, the Advocate General had also consulted Director General of Prosecutions T Asaf Ali and Additional Advocate General P A Mohammed Shah. The Director General of Prosecutions opined that the matters in the letter must necessarily be investigated and that a case could be registered. This is the same opinion that the Advocate General has given to the state government.
Although a Vigilance investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act was likely, the Crime Branch was entrusted with the investigation in view of the Enforcement Directorate pointing out, among other things, hawala transactions. Since many of the matters pointed out by the Enforcement Directorate fall under the Prevention of Corruption Act, a Vigilance investigation would be appropriate. The legal opinion also states that the Vigilance can decide whether an investigation should be conducted after registering a case, or whether a preliminary investigation should first be conducted to confirm that the evidence is valid and then proceed to a further investigation. The Advocate General also pointed out in the report that previous orders and investigation reports would not stand in the way of the investigation. The essence of the legal opinion is that the state government can take an appropriate decision.
The Enforcement Directorate’s letter to the DGP included the transactions and roles of opposition leader and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, daughter Veena, former minister and MLA and son-in-law Mohammed Riyas, CMRL MD Sasidharan Kartha, Chief Financial Officer K P Suresh, friends of Mohammed Riyas, and others. Evidence including WhatsApp chats was also handed over. The Enforcement Directorate has raised the suspicion that the Rs 3.28 crore paid to Veena by CMRL was a bribe to Pinarayi, and that in addition to this, Mohammed Riyas received Rs 20.5 crore as a bribe. The Enforcement Directorate also made the serious allegation that more than Rs 20.5 crore was smuggled abroad through hawala channels. It was on this basis that the state government was asked to register a case against them.
The law requires the Enforcement Directorate to hand over to local agencies the evidence and information obtained while conducting an investigation into money laundering. It is on this basis that the details have been handed over to the state government. The Enforcement Directorate has also handed over to the state government the statements of Mohammed Riyas’s friends that he had sent money to Dubai through hawala. Veena’s diary entry corroborating these transactions was also found during the Enforcement Directorate’s raid. If the arguments put forward by the Enforcement Directorate against Riyas and Veena are proven, it would amount to the serious crime of conducting hawala transactions while holding ministerial office. The Enforcement Directorate’s contention is that the personal staff members who were with Riyas when he was a minister had links with hawala operators. Information and chats from a WhatsApp group proving this were also found during the investigation and confirmed when statements were recorded. With all this having been handed over to the state government, the responsibility of proving it through an investigation now falls on the state government.
Even if the allegations against former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan are confined only to bribery transactions, legal experts and former police officers point out that the hawala allegations involving his daughter Veena and son-in-law and former minister Mohammed Riyas are bound to have serious personal and political repercussions. What has equally ensnared Veena and Riyas is the red diary belonging to Veena, found during the raid at Pinarayi Vijayan’s house, and the financial transactions recorded in her own handwriting in it. With the Enforcement Directorate also having collected WhatsApp chats and bank records corroborating these financial transactions, it is said that conclusive evidence has been secured. The diary records that each financial transaction was carried out through hawala, mainly containing details of whom how much money was entrusted to in the country. The records also contain information regarding the transfer of this money abroad. In addition to this, there are WhatsApp chats and messages corroborating the transactions. Records of some bank transactions have also been included.
These transactions took place when Mohammed Riyas was a minister. Evidence has also been collected that the transactions were carried out through Riyas’s friends. The Enforcement Directorate report also says that Veena stayed in Dubai and tried to start a company there. A message asking her son in the country what name should be given to the company has also been included in the Enforcement report. No other information regarding the establishment of the company has been handed over to the police. The Enforcement Directorate indicates that Mohammed Riyas’s role in the financial transactions amounting to Rs 20.5 crore obtained from Veena’s diary is clear. The Enforcement Directorate says that Veena recorded accounts involving crores in the diary at a time when she had no substantial income of her own. The investigation team has concluded that Veena handled money earned by Riyas while he was a minister. Records of bank transactions that exactly match the amounts in the diary have also been obtained. This turned the written accounts into strong evidence. The ED had conducted raids at nine locations in Kozhikode, including the offices and residences of businessmen who were friends of Riyas. From prominent people detained and questioned at the time, the agency received crucial clues about hawala transactions. The Enforcement’s finding is that these people helped transfer money abroad. There are indications that they will be questioned again.
The investigation team has received a corrective affidavit submitted by Riyas’s friend Hasan Waris, alleging that the Enforcement threatened him and recorded a false statement. However, the Enforcement says that the corrective affidavit will not stand legally. They clarified that the statement given during the raid cannot be withdrawn. Senior officials also state that the Enforcement agency, which has quasi-judicial powers, has full authority to decide whether to accept or reject the statement. All the evidence and documents relating to the transaction have been submitted in the 25-page letter given by the Enforcement to the state DGP. The indication received by the ED is that Riyas’s office was the centre of the hawala transaction. A twelve-member WhatsApp group had been created specifically for hawala transactions. The Enforcement obtained details of the WhatsApp group called Nammal Beypore Kotta( We Bepore Fort ) during an examination of the mobile phone of Riyas’s friend Waris. Riyas’s staff members are also included in the group. One number is saved under the name Minister Riyas. Apart from this, numbers are also found under the names Mithun, Kichu, Riyas, Secretary, Vipin, Minister Secretary, and others. The conclusion is that the inclusion of phone numbers of people connected with Riyas’s office is an extremely serious issue.
The ED is examining the purpose of forming the group, its connection with hawala transactions, the phone numbers of group members, matters related to the transactions, and WhatsApp chats. The number of Zubair, suspected to be a hawala operator from Kozhikode, is also in this group. Zubair’s number is saved on the mobile phone under the name Hawala. The letter given by the Enforcement Directorate says that Waris stated that, in June-July 2024, following instructions received from Riyas, some unidentified people delivered money to his office and that the money was sent to VP Faiz in Dubai through hawala agent Zubair in five instalments. This amounts to Rs 12 crore. Printouts of chats with Faijas and Zubair are also included in the letters handed over by the Enforcement to the DGP. The police chief’s report also includes copies of nine pages from the red diary found during the raid on May 27 at the rented house in Bakery Junction, Thiruvananthapuram, where Pinarayi Vijayan and Veena stayed. Another paper contains details of money given to people close to Veena’s husband Riyas. The names Faijas, Nikhil, Waris, and Shaijal are mainly mentioned. The names of some foreign banks and account numbers are also present. The amounts are written in dirhams.
The Enforcement Directorate has also collected travel details and accommodation-related records of Veena’s visits to Dubai . The trips were on January 29, July 02, and November 28. The ED says that Veena and Riyas travelled to Dubai together to launder black money. The alleged aim was to establish a benami company in Dubai in the name of a clothing business for Veena. This is what is recorded in the diary under the date September 17, 2024. Sent from here 85 lakh. Received by Faijas 349 K AED. Below the red diary entry stating that Faijas received 3,49,000 UAE dirham’s, equivalent to Rs 79.60 lakh at the exchange rate of the time, the Enforcement Directorate has recorded the following, ‘This indicates a large-scale illegal money transaction’. Regarding this, the Enforcement says that during questioning Veena revealed that she knew Waris and Shaijal as close friends of Riyas. This is the fund of Rs 8.2 crore given to them. To the right of the entry recording this amount, 20 crore is also written. The Enforcement letter says that Veena admitted that she herself wrote these notes and stated that they were written during the election period last March, and that the transaction was intended to establish a company abroad. Mohammed Riyas’s explanation that the financial transactions mentioned in the diary were intended for establishing a company later created even more danger. This explanation led to the question of where this money for establishing the company came from.
Meanwhile, CPM state secretary MV Govindan had said that if a case is registered against Pinarayi, the names of two ministers in the UDF government are also in the diary and cases would have to be registered against them as well. He also challenged the UDF government to register cases. There are indications that the Enforcement may also demand that cases be registered against Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty on the basis of the diary entry stating that bribes were given.
News at a Glance: Crime branch ADGP to investigate corruption and havala case against Pinarai Vijayan, daughter and son in law .It is as required by the Enforcement Directorate.
Academic Insight: Politically beneficial to BJP.And it will thrash the confidence and reputation of CPM. The Mr.clean image is gone.
Social Media Pulse: Wide discussion and viral
OnOur Reading List: Times of India,Indian Express, Mathrubhumi, Manorama and so on
Reference
- The New Indian Express https://share.google/1Op5H4lzHqAqKD7Z9
- YouTube https://share.google/6PrRn47Hnd75HfDCt
- The Times of India https://share.google/MD0vuQCSOsDnUBfvq
- Kerala Kaumudi https://share.google/3sREvPNEmhNKhWN9C
- NDTV https://share.google/e7f9Wsn7ue5vvdSDX
- The Hindu https://share.google/7Ny0US4BuazG1rAja – Article by: G K Suresh Babu