Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was one of numerous high-profile individuals mentioned in the 2016 Panama Papers leak by The Indian Express and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
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The Enforcement Directorate questioned Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in connection with its investigation into the 2016 Panama Papers expose, which revealed that several prominent Indians had set up companies in tax havens.
The Panama Papers expose was published by The Indian Express in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and revealed that several prominent Indians had set up companies in tax havens.
Aishwarya Rai has reportedly been questioned about her
overseas trips because Panama Papers documents reveal she and family members
attended a meeting of the Board of Directors of Amic Partners Limited, a
British Virgin Islands (BVI) business, in Dubai in June 2005, the year the
company was founded. She is also being questioned about a significant
contribution made to her husband Abhishek Bachchan's overseas bank account
under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).
Aishwarya Rai is said to have denied any knowledge of the
BVI business and told ED investigators that all of her financial concerns were
managed by her father, late Krishna Raj Rai.
Officials added that a critical document from Amic Partners Limited, which was exposed in the 2016 Panama Papers by The Indian Express, has now been independently retrieved and authenticated by them from BVI authorities.
Amic Partners Limited's paperwork also contained its
Certificate of Incumbency, corporate Resolutions, and minutes of its Board of
Directors meeting. Rai and her other family members have all signed the
minutes. The minutes also disclose that the ABN AMRO Bank's Dubai branch would
serve as investment managers for the Rai family's offshore corporation.
Rai was called to the Investigating Officer's office in Delhi on Monday. She is being questioned over FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) charges, not money laundering, according to sources.
Rai was one of numerous famous figures mentioned in the 2016 Panama Papers revelation by The Indian Express and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The ED summons is the first sign that the case against Rai and her family is being vigorously pursued by authorities.
Rai had been summoned twice in October and November this year, according to senior authorities, but had requested time.
The documents pertaining to the Bachchans were kept by
Mossack Fonseca (MF), a Panamanian firm that assisted in the formation of
offshore companies. Rai and her family have been members of Amic Partners for
at least three years, according to these documents.
Amic's board of directors converted Rai's position to shareholder on June 18, 2005. "One of the shareholders requested to abbreviate her name from Ms Ashwaria Rai (sic) to Ms A Rai for reasons of secrecy," according to internal MF guidelines dated July 5, 2005. All of the directors and shareholders agreed and consented to the same."
According to MF documents, the process to wound up the firm
began in 2008, a year after Rai married Abhishek Bachchan.
Sources: indianexpress