Money laundering case: Major set back for ED, trial proceedings against Bineesh Kodiyeri stayed by HC

 

Bengaluru: In another setback to Enforcement Directorate (ED), Karnataka High Court stayed proceedings before a trial court against Bineesh Kodiyeri in connection with a money laundering case. The court expressed doubt if the case against him will stand. Though Bineesh approached the trial court saying the case has no locus standi, his plea was rejected. The Karnataka HC stayed the proceedings based on this plea. His name was deleted from a drug use case earlier.

The court earlier found that Bineesh, son of former CPM State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, cannot be named as an accused in a drug case slapped by ED. Following this, Bineesh approached the trial court and cited that the money laundering case too will not sustain. However, the trial court dismissed his petition. Bineesh then approached HC and development is part of that. HC’s ruling comes as a major relief to Bineesh.

Bineesh was arrested on October 29, 2020, in a drug deal-money laundering case filed by ED, for allegedly transferring Rs 50 lakh to the operator of an alleged drug racket. He was granted bail in October 2021. Karnataka HC affirmed that the investigation agency could not procure any evidence against Bineesh in connection with the drug deal case. Though the prosecution claimed that Bineesh had funded the drug deals of Muhammad Anoop, who was arrested in the drug-dealing case, the court specified that Bineesh cannot be tagged as an accused. The court also rejected the allegation that Bineesh could be involved in related crimes if let out on bail.

The ED argued that Anoop was Bineesh’s benami and that the firms, B Capital Financial Services and B Capital Forex Trading Pvt Ltd, which he purportedly owned, were shell companies. Even though Bineesh claimed that he had only loaned the amount to Anoop for starting a hotel in Bengaluru, the ED took him into custody based on his bank dealings. Anoop’s debit card was seized from Bineesh’s house in Thiruvananthapuram. The investigators claimed that Bineesh’s signature was on the card.