Kochi/New Delhi, Aug 10 (IANS): Cracking its whip in the Popular Finance scam case in Kerala, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested its Managing Director Thomas Daniel and his daughter and company's CEO Rinu Mariam, officials said on Tuesday.

An ED official related to the probe told IANS, "The agency has arrested Daniel and Mariam in connection with the case after questioning."

The official said that they were arrested after their role in the alleged Rs 1,600 crore scam came to the fore under the prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The official said that they are being produced before a Special PMLA court in Kerala's Kochi for remand. The ED is probing the money laundering charges on the basis of the CBI FIR.

The CBI registered a case on the orders of the Kerala High Court in November last year into as many as 1,368 cases registered against the directors of the Popular Finance companies in connection with the cheating of depositors.

According to petitioners, the funds of the various institutions were siphoned off even to the foreign countries. The amount involved comes to Rs 1,600 crore.

Thomas Daniel's wife Prabha and two other daughters are also under investigation.

A total of 1,362 cases of popular finance fraud have been registered across Kerala. The ED found that the accused had deposited the proceeds in various places as benami deposits. The ED examined in detail the documents and electronic evidence relating to the land transaction made by the accused.