The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday (June 16, 2026) questioned Saran S. Kartha, son of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd. (CMRL) managing director Sasidharan S. Kartha. He appeared before the zonal office of the ED in Kochi in connection with the money-laundering case linked to the CMRL pay-off case. Jaya S. Kartha, wife of Mr. Sasidharan Kartha, also turned up for questioning. Mr. Saran is the joint managing director of the CMRL, and Ms. Jaya Kartha is director of Empower India Capital Investments Pvt Ltd operated by Mr. Sasidharan Kartha.The Central agency had earlier asked T. Veena, daughter of former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to appear for questioning on June 17, 2026 as part of the probe into the alleged pay-off case involving Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, her now-defunct firm, and the CMRL.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 the CMRL, a mining company, during the 2017-2021 period allegedly without rendering any tangible service. It had also held searches at the office of the CMRL as part of the probe.Documents soughtMr. Saran appeared at the ED office with a trolley bag. It is learnt that the agency had asked him to submit the documents related to the financial transactions of the company over the past 15 years. The investigations by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs had allegedly uncovered fictitious cash expenses of ₹182 crore generated by the CMRL over a span of 15 years, which was reportedly used to bribe various persons. It was also alleged that the company had paid ₹91 crore towards transport services to the companies owned by Mr. Sasidharan Kartha.According to the ED, the firm had extended loans to the tune of ₹50 lakh to Exalogic despite the company allegedly failing to make timely repayments.The ED alleged that one of the fake expenses recorded by the CMRL was towards the payment to Ms. Veena. Her now-defunct company had received fraudulent payments of about ₹2.78 crore from the CMRL under the guise of IT consultancy services, it said.The agency had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of a prosecution complaint filed by the SFIO 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. Published - June 16, 2026 11:11 am IST