The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized assets worth ₹216.40 crore from Chennai-based Southern Agrifurane Industries Pvt. Ltd. (SAIPL) and its promoter/director MGM Maran and MGM Anand under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
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The seized assets are in the form of land and buildings owned by SAIPL in Tamil Nadu and Telangana; shares owned by MGM Maran in Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd. (representing 3.31% shares of TMB); shares of Indian companies SAIPL, MGM Entertainment Pvt. Ltd and Anand Transport Pvt. Ltd owned by MGM Anand.
According to details provided by ED, SAIPL siphoned off ₹216.40 crore aboard under the garb of Overseas Direct Investments (ODI) by way of false declarations to its authorised dealer (AD) bank as well as by way of structuring transactions in a manner so as to send outward remittances without any bonafides. The funds were diverted outside India with an intention to escape the clutches of Indian laws. In this way, the company siphoned off around 85% of its net worth abroad.
ED issued a notice to the AD bank and upon receiving the notice, it conducted an internal investigation in the matter and based on the findings, recommended the case be concluded as ‘fraud’.
Also, MGM Maran surrendered his Indian passport in December 2016 and had taken a Cyprus passport to become a Cyprus citizen. Also MGM Maran, in another FEMA investigation, remained totally non-compliant to the proceedings and failed to visit the ED office (even once) in spite of multiple summons and did not submit any details of his foreign assets, resulting in another seizure order of his Indian assets worth ₹293 crore in December 2021.