‘Foreign exchange violation’: ED searches premises of Hiranandani group in Mumbai

As per the case, Niranjan Hiranandani and his family members were the beneficiaries of an offshore trust, which had accumulated assets of more than USD 60 million. The group was also named in the Pandora Papers published by The Indian Express.

The Pandora Papers refers to a trove of 11.9 million secret documents from 14 offshore service providers that give details of ownership of 29,000 offshore entities used by the super-rich to manage their global money flows.

The data was obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and shared with 150 media partners. The Indian Express investigated the Indian names on the list. Hiranandanis had set up at least 25 companies and a Trust in the British Virgin Islands between 2006 and 2008, an official said. He added that they have also routed investments of more than Rs 400 crore in the form of FDIs received in group companies having real estate projects in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The utilisation of the amount was not as per the prescribed government guidelines, the official added. One of the group entities, which received FDI, did not repay loans taken from a consortium of banks and was declared NPA. The incomplete project was then taken over by another Hiranandani group entity in DRT proceedings.

In March 2022, the income tax (I-T) department searched around 25 premises of the Hiranandani Group, spanning three cities —Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. The searches were carried out over suspected tax evasion by the group.

An official spokesperson of the Hiranandani Group said, “We have extended full cooperation to the department by facilitating all the relevant information and clarification sought by them. Since the inquiry pertains to a 15-year-old development — it took time to dig out old records. The Group understands that ED is satisfied that there were no FEMA violations. The group will remain cooperative and law abiding.”

ECIR filed

The ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against Dinesh Bobhate, who is said to have close ties to UBT Shiv Sena group leader Anil Desai. A case of money laundering has been registered against Dinesh Bobhate based on the FIR registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a corruption case. Investigation in a corruption case.