ED Questions Aishwarya on Offshore 'Links' in Panama Papers Case: Report

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan appeared before the ED on Monday, 20 December.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at the ED office on Monday.

(Photo: Viral Bhayani)

On Monday, 20 December, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its probe into the 2016 Panama Papers FEMA case, which showed that several prominent personalities in India had set up offshore accounts or shell companies to avoid taxes.

Now, as per a report by The Indian Express, Aishwarya was questioned on her foreign travels since the Panama Papers records show that the actor and her family had attended a meeting of the Board of Directors of a British Virgin Islands (BVI) company, Amic Partners Limited in Dubai in June 2005.

The ED also reportedly questioned Aishwarya about a large deposit made to a foreign back account of Abhishek Bachchan using the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).

The Indian Express report states that Aishwarya has denied any knowledge of the BVI firm and told the ED officials that her late father, Krishna Raj Rai, handled her financial matters.

Officials told the publication that an important document of Amic Partners Limited has been obtained and verified by them from BVI authorities. Documents of Amic Partners Limited reportedly included those of its Certificate of Incumbency; company Resolutions and minutes of its Board of Directors meeting. The minutes are signed by Rai and some family members. The minutes reveal that the Dubai Branch of the ABN AMRO Bank would be appointed as investment managers for Rai family’s offshore entity.

Officials told The Indian Express that Aishwarya was sent summons twice this year, but she had sought time.

The Panama Papers case is a probe into millions of documents stolen and leaked to the media in 2016. It involves allegations that the rich across the world set up offshore accounts or shell companies to avoid taxes. International Consortium of Investigative Journalists probed and published leaked financial records of celebrities, industrialists and politicians.