The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted searches on two premises purportedly linked to Pigeon Education Technology India Private Limited under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) provisions, it said on April 27.
Through a statement, the agency alleged that the company was completely owned by Chinese nationals and had remitted around ₹82 crore to China in the form of marketing expenses.
The company, which is providing online education in the name of Oda class, is “part of a group consisting of a complex web of entities having ultimate controlling company in Cayman Island. The present directors of the company are Liu Can, who is a Chinese national, and Vedant Hamirwasia”.
According to the ED, the search operation in Bengaluru revealed that the entire affairs of the company were controlled by Liu Can from China; the Indian director was having no control or access to the affairs of the company; he followed all the instructions of the Chinese people.
The Chinese director is the authorised signatory in all the bank accounts of the company maintained in India and the same are being operated online through China.
The company remitted around ₹82 crore to China in the name of marketing expenses on the instructions of the Chinese people, without proof of having availed itself of any services from the beneficiary entity, it alleged.
During the searches, the ED seized documents and took forensic back-up of electronic devices. “The role of the earlier directors of the company Sushant Srivastava, Priyanka Khandelwal and Himanshu Garg, who resigned last year, is also under investigation,” the agency said.
