Bengaluru Court Extends ED Custody Of Bineesh Kodiyeri, Son Of Kerala CPI(M) Secretary, In PMLA Case

A court at Bengaluru on Monday extended the remand of Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of Kerala CPI(M) Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till November 7 in a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA).

He was arrested by the ED on October 30 on money laundering allegations in connection with the sandalwood drug case.

The ED told the City Civil Court that Bineesh could not be interrogated as he complained of health problems. Citing this, the ED sought for extension of remand, which was allowed by the Court. 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its remand report submitted has said that Bineesh is the boss of already arrested alleged drug peddler Mohammed Anoop and Bineesh has transferred huge amounts of funds into the accounts of Anoop.

Mohammed Anoop was recently arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Bengaluru, after he was found in possession of 60 grams of MDMA tablets (a psychotropic substance) in his residence. Later he was arrested by ED.

The remand report states that Mohammed Anoop was made a 'benamidar' for one of Bineesh's restaurants. The ED also claimed that Anoop has  accepted that "Mr Bineesh is his boos and he did whatever Mr Binesh Kodiyeri told him to do for which Mr Bineesh used to pay him."

The department has claimed that Binesh has admitted in his statement dated October 6, that he has paid huge amounts of money to Mohammed Anoop. However,he has not disclosed the complete information with respect to the financial transactions and the proceeds of crime involved in money laundering. "During the investigation, it is revealed that he holds/possesses many bank accounts and has committed the offence of money laundering by transferring/layering huge proceeds of crime into various accounts which needs to be unearthed", the remand report stated.

It is also stated that Investigation under PMLA further revealed that the application department is having sufficient material with reasons to believe that the said accused is guilty of the offence of money laundering under section 3 of the Act and punishable under section 4 of the Act.

The remand claimed that Bineesh is not cooperating in the investigation and not divulging the details of the entire laundered money while deposing the statement under section 50 (3) in respondent to the summons issued under section 50 (2) of PMLA.