BENGALURU: The Enforcement Directorate has attached Rs 79.76 crore of Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd., Bengaluru, in connection with Prevention of Money Laundering Act case on Monday.
According to a release by ED, issued on Tuesday, the premises of Devas were searched by the the Directorate officials on January 23. The statements of Ranganathan Mohan, Director (Finance), Desaraju Venugopal, Founder Director and Sri. D. Nataraj, Ex-Director of Devas.
The "said directors agreed to the crime committed," ED said. Following the same, the amount was attached by officials.
In addition, two other directors, who allegedly are directly behind the crime - Ramachandran Viswanathan and M Chandrasekhar - are yet to be questioned by ED, as they are in the US at present.
Illegal agreement
The case in question pertains to the illegal agreement entered by Devas with Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL), the commercial arm of ISRO. As per the chargesheet filed by CBI regarding the case had found that Devas did not have any technology/ownership of intellectual property rights to deliver the Multimedia Services it had promised. "The main purpose of entering the agreement with ISRO/ACL was to raise foreign investments on the strength of the agreement with ISRO and thereafter siphon off the investment raised, out of India in the guise of investment in subsidiary company, business support services and legal fee," ED said.
Few employees of ISRO/ACL also conspired with Devas for entering the agreement. Based on the agreement with India's prestigious space firm, Devas was able to raise foreign investment of Rs 579. 07 crore. To siphon off the funds illegally, Devas also incorporated its subsidiary company in America - M/s. Devas Multimedia America Inc. Out of the foreign investment raised of Rs 579.07 crore, an amount of Rs 76.19 crore was transferred to it as investment. Later, Rs 180.77 crore was also transferred to its subsidiary in America in the guise of providing business support services and Rs 230.11 crore was spent as legal fee.
It also noted that the company did not have any major business in India and other than providing internet services to about 20-25 customers. The staff strength of Devas and its subsidiary was three each, the release added.
Attached amount
The proceeds of the crime totalling Rs 79.76 crore, in the form of Upfront Capacity Reservation Fee available with ISRO as well as in the form of Mutual Fund Deposits and Bank Deposits has now been provisionally attached under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 on February 27, the release added.
Further investigations are in progress.