Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi for questioning on forex violation allegations related to a case linked to 2016 Panama papers, officials said on Monday. The actress was reportedly questioned by the probe agency regarding allegations of stashing wealth abroad, according to reports. More than 300 Indians were named in the 2016 Panama papers including celebrities, sports personalities, and politicians among the others.
Key Points:
1. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was questioned by the ED in a case linked to the leak case for alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violation. The actress was summoned for the third time to record her statements, as per reports.
2. "We had summoned her for December 20. The summon was sent to her Mumbai's residence. Abiding by the summon she joined the probe," an ED official said.
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3. The Bachchan family had several notices issued in their name seeking explanation about their involvement in foreign remittances since 2004 under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). In the 2016 Panama Papers leak case, the names of Bachchan family members also surfaced up. Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan were among the names that had come up in the case.
4. The Bachchan family is being investigated due to multiple reasons, one reason being the 4 companies that were established in 1993. Amitabh Bachchan is the director of these companies which are situated in the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands. These firms had a huge capital between USD 5,000 to 50,000.
5. According to reports, some of these companies initially had Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as their director but later she was declared a shareholder. The 48-year-old's parents were also declared partners in the company.
6. The Panama Papers leak case had millions of stolen documents that were leaked to the media in 2016. The leaked files disclosed how the Mossack Fonseca clients were able to launder money, dodge sanctions and avoid tax. This list had revealed over 300 Indian names involved in cases on tax evasions and FEMA violations.
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7. Several renowned international personalities including politicians and celebrities were also named in the papers. All the personalities named in the list are accused of setting up offshore accounts or shell companies to avoid taxes.
