The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it conducted a probe and raided the offices of Bengaluru-based investment firm Ambidant Marketing Pvt. Ltd. early this year.
The ED issued a statement detailing its investigations amidst bribery allegations after the owner of Ambidant firm alleged that he paid mining baron and former Minister G. Janardhana Reddy ₹20 crore to help him close an ED investigation against him.
The ED, Bengaluru Zonal Office, said it had conducted search operations on January 4 and 5, 2018 on various premises belonging to Ambidant in Bengaluru after receiving a tip from the Income Tax Department that it was involved in forex trading. “Forex trading to the extent of ₹4.2 crore and several FEMA violations, such as floating a firm in Dubai and opening bank accounts in a foreign country without permission from RBI, came to light. The matter was adjudicated by the Joint Director and a penalty of ₹1.86 crore was recovered,” said the ED statement.
Further, enquiries have also been initiated by the ED over the ownership of assets by these persons/entities in UAE, which is still continuing, the statement said. The probe revealed that Ambidant was involved in collecting investments from clients in the name of Halal Investment and offered huge returns to the extent of up to 12% per month.
“From inception (on 20.12.2016), the company has so far received investment totalling to ₹954.05 crore,” said the ED in its statement. “...It came to the fore that the scheme run by company is surely a potential ponzi scheme. In view of the above, ED has written to the RBI to have a re-look into the matter.”