Panama Papers: ED grills Aishwarya Rai for 6 hrs about offshore links

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with its probe into the 2016 Panama Papers expose published by The Indian Express in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) which showed that several prominent personalities in India had floated companies in tax havens.

It is learnt that Rai has also been questioned on her foreign travels since Panama Papers records show she, along with family members, attended a meeting of the Board of Directors of a British Virgin Islands (BVI) company, Amic Partners Limited in Dubai in June 2005, the year the company was incorporated. She is also being questioned on a large deposit made to a foreign bank account of her husband, Abhishek Bachchan, using the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).

Significantly, officials said that a key document of Amic Partners Limited, published by The Indian Express as part of the 2016 Panama Papers expose, has now been independently obtained and verified by them from authorities in BVI.

Incidentally, documents of Amic Partners Limited included those of its Certificate of Incumbency; company Resolutions and minutes of its Board of Directors meeting. The minutes are signed by Rai and her other family members. The minutes also reveal that the Dubai Branch of the ABN AMRO Bank would be appointed as investment managers for the Rai family’s offshore entity.

The summons from the ED is the first indication that agencies are actively pursuing the case against Rai and her family members.

Senior officials told The Indian Express that Rai had been sent summons two times in October and November this year but had sought time.

The Indian Express accessed MF records which showed that Rai, her father Kotedadi Ramana Rai Krishna Raj, mother Vrinda Krishna Raj Rai, and brother Aditya Rai were appointed on May 14, 2005, as directors of Amic Partners – with an initial authorised capital of $50,000.

On June 18, 2005, an Amic board resolution changed Rai’s status to shareholder. And on July 5, 2005, internal instructions exchanged between MF staff stated: “One of the shareholders requested to shorten her name from Ms Ashwaria Rai (sic) to Ms A Rai for reasons of confidentiality. The same was mutually agreed and consented by all directors and shareholders.”

In 2008, a year after Rai married Abhishek Bachchan, the process to wind up the company was initiated, show MF records.

MF records also show that when the company was set up, each share had a par value of $1 with the Certificate of Incumbency stating that the four directors had an identical holding of 12,500 shares each.

Correspondence from MF’s Dubai office shows that Amic was acquired for $1,500, with $1,150 being the acquisition fee and $350 charged as the licence fee. The agent used was a Dubai-based company, BKR Adonis Kannan. The subscribers resolution of Amic — dated May 12, 2005 — shows Rai and her father as the “first Directors”. In all MF documents linked to Amic, the address columns were left blank.

In 2007, Amic was re-registered with a Certificate of Incumbency, dated April 10, showing only Rai’s father and brother as directors and all four as shareholders. Once again, each stakeholder, including Rai, was shown to have 12,500 shares each. 

Samajwadi party MP being harassed ahead of UP polls. It is all due to Bachchans being closely associated with SP and Jaya being an MP from Samajwadi party.

Wait till their illegal land deal in Barabanki also comes up. The college they announced to be built in Ash's name has never come up in 14 years. 

Another BJP sazish I tell you...

At this point, goes without saying. Anything less would be surprising.

MDNA party kar raha hoga 😆

Haha. I remember that drama by Aishwarya and Bachchan family. Their acting of being charitable was top notch!

A decade ago Amitabh Bachchan owned 10-bigha land in a village near Lucknow to build a degree college in Aishwarya’s name. And even entire Bachchan family was present for the foundation ceremony, but after that not even single brick was laid on the ground. Looking at this villagers of Daulatpur resorted to crowd funding to build a degree college just 500 metres away from Amitabh Bachchan’s plot.

https://www.freepressjournal.in/cmcm/uttar-pradesh-a-decade-later-amitabh-bachchan-fails-to-build-college-villagers-resort-to-crowd-funding

I am not aware of the political dynamics in India. I have only heard about two political parties: Congress and BJP.

Is Samajwadi Party a part of Congress? Does it not get along with BJP?

Samajwadi Party is part of UPA which is an alliance of parties led by Congress. 

So yes, Samajwadi Party is anti BJP and part of its opposition.

Though it is not part of Congress. Both INC and SP are separate parties but allies. 

Thanks for explaining.

That so called college was just announced to cover up illegal land grab by Amitabh. It was farmers' land which he grabbed. When controversy erupted he announced a college in Ash's name. It is 2021 today. Land is theirs but no college came up.