Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Questioned For Five Hours By Enforcement Directorate Over Alleged Forex Violations

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan left the Enforcement Directorate's Delhi offices on Monday night after being questioned for over five hours. The actress was summoned to record her statement in connection with alleged forex violations related to the Panama Papers.

It must be noted that Aishwarya had earlier skipped two summons and sought time from the agency. At the moment, it isn’t very clear if she has been summoned for more questioning at a later date. According to sources, the ED probed the actress over claims that she parked her money in a company based in the British Virgin Islands.

The probe agency first started investigating the allegations in 2017 and had issued notices to the Bachchan family asking them to explain foreign remittances since 2004 under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the Reserve Bank of India. Sources close to the development have also revealed that Aishwarya had submitted foreign payments records received over the past 15 years.

The Devdas star had been named Director of an offshore company named Amic Partners that was registered by the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. The company had a paid-up capital of $50,000 and the actor allegedly exited the company in 2009. It was acquired by Dubai-based BKR Adonis.

The Panama Papers case first made headlines in 2016 after millions of documents were stolen from Mossack Fonseca and leaked to the media. The sprawling investigation revealed that offshore firms were used to stash the wealth of the world's richest and powerful individuals by setting up offshore accounts, or shell companies, to avoid taxes

The leaked financial records of politicians, industrialists and celebrities from all over the world were also reviewed and published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Amitabh Bachchan's name had also cropped in along with over 300 Indians who were said to be part of the Panama Papers.