KOCHI: The Ernakulam PMLA court on February 20 extended the custody of M Sivasankar, the former principal secretary to the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan by four days, in connection with the alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulations) Act in the Life Mission, a flagship housing project of the Left government.

Sivasankar, who was taken into custody on February 14 by the central agency, was sent to Enforcement Directorate custody on Wednesday. The ED sought more time for conducting a thorough probe into Sivasankar's role in the case. The ED claimed before the court that his complicity in the case was more evident.

Meanwhile, the Agency informed the court that all necessary medical support was being provided to Sivasankar who had complained of health issues before the court. The PMLA court granted four-day custody to ED and asked the agency to produce him on February 25. The former CEO of the Life Mission Project, U V Jose, was questioned by the ED on February 18 as part of its investigation. The chartered accountant who was reportedly linked with Sivasankar in this matter had been questioned by the agency on Thursday.

A main suspect in the case of gold smuggling through diplomatic channels, Swapna Suresh, is accused of receiving assistance from the CA in opening a bank safe deposit box to store the commission she received from the scheme.

On a complaint by the then Wadakkanchery Congress MLA Anil Akkara, the CBI had in 2020 filed a FIR in a Kochi court under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code and Section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) 2010 listing Santosh Eappen, Managing Director of Unitac Builder, Kochi, as the first accused and Sane Ventures as the second accused.

The international humanitarian organisation Red Crescent, which promised to contribute Rs 20 crore to the Life Mission project, entered into a deal with the two corporations on which the construction was built. The selection of the contractor by Red Crescent is said to have involved corruption by the Congress.

At the time, opposition parties claimed that Suresh had admitted in front of an NIA court that she had taken Rs 1 crore in commission from the project, alleging that the alleged FCRA violation and corruption in the project had snowballed into a significant political issue. She allegedly stated that Sivasankar was the intended recipient of the funds.

However, the Life Mission CEO had submitted before the court that Unitac and Sane Ventures had undertaken the construction on the basis of the agreement entered into with them by Red Crescent and had directly accepted foreign contributions from Red Crescent, which is a foreign agency.

The CEO has further contended that the companies that entered into an agreement with the Red Crescent do not fall under any of the groups that are forbidden by Section 3 of the FCRA from receiving any foreign contributions.

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