Highlights:
- According to sources, she is being questioned over FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) claims rather than money laundering.
- The Panama Papers are a collection of leaked documents that reveal fraud and tax evasion by numerous influential people throughout the world.
- Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s name was among the 500 Indians included in 2016 Panama Papers leak.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for questioning in connection with the 2016 ‘Panama Papers’ global tax leaks probe, according to sources.
According to the sources, the investigating agency wants to question the 48-year-old actor on suspicion of stashing wealth overseas.
Aishwarya Rai, Amitabh Bachchan’s daughter-in-law, had already been summoned for interrogation, but she had twice requested more time.
In 2017, the Enforcement Directorate began investigating possible Forex breaches. It has issued summons to the Bachchan family, requesting them to explain their overseas payments since 2004 under the Reserve Bank of India’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).
Other suspected irregularities tied to the family are also being investigated by the federal investigative agency, according to officials.
Aishwarya Rai has handed over papers related to the overseas payments under scrutiny. According to sources, the agency wants to record her statement now.
The documents pertaining to the Bachchans were part of the data kept by Mossack Fonseca (MF), a Panamanian firm that assisted in the formation of offshore entities. As per the documents, Rai and her family have been associated with Amic Partners for at least three years.
Aishwarya Rai, her father Kotedadi Ramana Rai Krishna Rai, Vrinda Krishna Raj Rai (mother), and Aditya Rai (brother) were named as directors of Amic Partners, an offshore business established on May 14, 2005, with an initial authorised capital of $50,000, according to MF filings.
The “Panama Papers” case is a massive investigation that involves millions of papers that were stolen and exposed to the media in 2016. The issue revolves around charges that the world’s wealthy and influential set up offshore accounts or shell companies to avoid taxation. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists investigated and published leaked financial data of politicians, business owners, and celebrities from throughout the world.
It was stated that around 300 Indians were included in the Panama Papers.
