Why is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan summoned in Panama Papers leak case? All you need to know
Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday, December 20 in connection with the Panama Papers leak case.
The ED has been looking into the case since 2016 and has registered a money laundry case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in this matter.
The Bachchan family has been issued notices to explain their involvement in foreign remittances since 2004 under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).
There are a number of reasons why the Bachchan family is being probed, here are some of them:
– A few companies established in 1993 had Amitabh Bachchan as the director of 4 companies – 3 in the Bahamas and 1 in the Virgin Islands.
– These companies had a huge capital between USD 5,000 to 50,000.
– All these companies had Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as their director initially but later was declared a shareholder.
– Aishwarya’s parents were also declared partners in the company. The company was created in 2006 and dissolved in 2008.
For the unversed, Panama Papers is an investigation of records from the Panamanian legal firm Mossack Fonseca by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists where they had named several world leaders and celebrities who had allegedly stocked their wealth in offshore companies and have international accounts.
Questions raised regarding the Panama Papers in Rajya Sabha:
– In August 2021, Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray had raised some questions regarding the Panama Papers.
– In June 2021, a total of Rs 20,078 crores were detected with respect to links with Indian companies.
The Income Tax Department takes appropriate actions against those found to be involved in violation of the provisions of various Acts administered by the Income Tax Department like the Income Tax Act, 1961, and Black Money and Imposition of Tax Act,2015 etc.
The Panama Paper leaks have over 400 cases that are linked to Indian companies/individuals and investigation on all is being conducted.