In the face of bankruptcy, City’s biz family has amassed fortunes in Switzerland: Ed | Ludhiana News
Ludhiana: In a startling revelation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that a prominent business family of Ludhiana and her companies have allegedly been involved in mega financial transactions in Switzerland and illegally own hundreds of assets in that country Millions have been acquired by the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). On the other hand, the family’s companies in Ludhiana and elsewhere in India have drawn more than Rs.400 billion worth of loans from Indian banks and these companies have been subject to insolvency proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCL) by the lending banks.
ED officially shared these developments in a statement from its headquarters late Friday night. The agency also revealed that the Soin family had also acquired assets in Cyprus and Watch Circulars (LOC) were issued against some family members. ED recently searched properties associated with the Soin family in Ludhiana.
The agency said: “ED conducted search operations on March 30 in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to investigate the matter of prima facie violating the provisions of Section 4 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) by individuals for acquisition, possession, possession , Possession and transfer of foreign exchange, foreign securities or immovable property outside of India. A total of seven premises were searched.”
“During the search, many incriminating documents were seized and seized in the form of loose papers and property documents revealing financial transactions between the Indian residents/the business entities owned/controlled by them and the various business entities in India and Switzerland. The investigation was initiated on the basis of a reference stating that LoCs against Dinesh Soin, Abhishek Soin and others were issued by Saber Papers Limited, Ludhiana (SPL). Investigations were conducted by ED which revealed that Dinesh Soin, Abhishek Soin and other members of the Soin family were the shareholders, directors of SPL and Saber Paper Boards Private Limited, Ludhiana (SPBPL).
The ED further said: “Further investigation confirmed that certain wholly owned subsidiaries and joint venture companies in Cyprus and Switzerland were incorporated by the named persons and the mandatory reporting required by FEMA regulations had not been filed for a significant number of years. Furthermore, investigations carried out revealed that Dinesh Soin and Abhishek Soin said SPL and SPBPL had invested Rs 9.7 crore in various foreign jurisdiction companies and later split the assets and liabilities between these companies, revealing that more than Rs 120 crore of assets were accumulated on behalf of these companies in Switzerland. The Soins had only transferred an amount of Rs 9.7 crore through banking channels, raising suspicions that funds transferred from India through channels other than banking channels were flowing into these establishments. Information was also gathered that bank loans worth more than Rs 400 crore had been drawn down by the SPL and SPBPL, which were in bankruptcy proceedings before the NCLT by the lending banks. Further investigations into the case are ongoing.”
ED officially shared these developments in a statement from its headquarters late Friday night. The agency also revealed that the Soin family had also acquired assets in Cyprus and Watch Circulars (LOC) were issued against some family members. ED recently searched properties associated with the Soin family in Ludhiana.
The agency said: “ED conducted search operations on March 30 in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to investigate the matter of prima facie violating the provisions of Section 4 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) by individuals for acquisition, possession, possession , Possession and transfer of foreign exchange, foreign securities or immovable property outside of India. A total of seven premises were searched.”
“During the search, many incriminating documents were seized and seized in the form of loose papers and property documents revealing financial transactions between the Indian residents/the business entities owned/controlled by them and the various business entities in India and Switzerland. The investigation was initiated on the basis of a reference stating that LoCs against Dinesh Soin, Abhishek Soin and others were issued by Saber Papers Limited, Ludhiana (SPL). Investigations were conducted by ED which revealed that Dinesh Soin, Abhishek Soin and other members of the Soin family were the shareholders, directors of SPL and Saber Paper Boards Private Limited, Ludhiana (SPBPL).
The ED further said: “Further investigation confirmed that certain wholly owned subsidiaries and joint venture companies in Cyprus and Switzerland were incorporated by the named persons and the mandatory reporting required by FEMA regulations had not been filed for a significant number of years. Furthermore, investigations carried out revealed that Dinesh Soin and Abhishek Soin said SPL and SPBPL had invested Rs 9.7 crore in various foreign jurisdiction companies and later split the assets and liabilities between these companies, revealing that more than Rs 120 crore of assets were accumulated on behalf of these companies in Switzerland. The Soins had only transferred an amount of Rs 9.7 crore through banking channels, raising suspicions that funds transferred from India through channels other than banking channels were flowing into these establishments. Information was also gathered that bank loans worth more than Rs 400 crore had been drawn down by the SPL and SPBPL, which were in bankruptcy proceedings before the NCLT by the lending banks. Further investigations into the case are ongoing.”