The Enforcement Directorate has served a show-cause notice on Devas Multimedia for receiving foreign direct investments (FDI) worth Rs 578 crore in alleged violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia is under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation for alleged irregularities related to its 2005 deal with Indian Space Research Organisation’s Antrix Corporation Limited.
The pact on delivery of video, multimedia and information services to mobile phones via two geo-stationary satellites was later scrapped in 2011. ED is conducting a FEMA probe against the firm and is likely to upgrade it into a money-laundering probe.
ED initiated a FEMA probe against the firm on suspicion that forex regulations had been violated in FDI inflow worth Rs 578.54 crore ($131.44 million) to the Devas Mutlimedia during May 2006 to June 2010, said an agency source. “The foreign investments worth Rs 578.54 crore came from overseas investors including CC Devas Mauritius Limited, Telecom Devas Mauritius Ltd, Deutsche Telkom Asia Private Limited and Devas Employees Mauritius Private Limited,” he said.