Daijiworld Media Network - Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 1: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a Rs 466-crore show cause notice under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former finance minister Thomas Issac, and the CM’s chief principal secretary K M Abraham in connection with the KIIFB Masala Bond case, officials said on Monday.

The notice, which does not require a personal appearance, was issued about 10-12 days ago. It comes after the completion of the FEMA investigation, with the contravention quantified in the notice being akin to a penalty.

The probe concerns the end-use of Rs 2,000 crore raised by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) through masala bonds and whether it complied with FEMA regulations. KIIFB, the state government’s primary agency for financing major infrastructure projects, had raised Rs 2,150 crore in 2019 through its debut masala bond issue as part of a larger plan to mobilise Rs 50,000 crore for critical infrastructure development in Kerala.