MGM Maran's assets worth Rs 216.40 crore in SAIPL seized by Enforcement Directorate

Southern Agrifurane Industries in Tamil Nadu produces MGM Vodka, Gold Crown and Classic Fine whisky and a dozen other Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) brands.
Enforcement Directorate (File Photo | PTI)
Enforcement Directorate (File Photo | PTI)

CHENNAI: Former chairman of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited MGM Maran, who has been allegedly dodging the Enforcement Directorate in a case pertaining to Foreign Exchange Management Act, suffered a blow after assets worth Rs 216.40 crore pertaining to his Chennai based company Southern Agrifurane Industries Pvt Ltd (SAIPL) and his associate MGM Anand were attached by the investigating agency in another case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has attached properties of SAIPL, in which he is a director and promoter along with that of his associate MGM Anand, for violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Southern Agrifurane Industries in Tamil Nadu produces MGM Vodka, Gold Crown and Classic Fine whisky and a dozen other Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) brands.

Enforcement Directorate said that during its investigations it has found SAIPL to have siphoned off Indian Funds worth Rs 216.40 Crore aboard under the garb of Overseas Direct Investments (ODI) by way of false declarations to its AD Bank as well as by way of structuring transactions in a manner so as to send outward remittances without any bonafides and with sole objective to remove funds from India in the name of ODI without there being any genuine business reasons for the Indian company SAIPL.

"Such funds have been diverted outside India under the garb of ODI with an intention to escape the clutches of Indian laws. By this way, the company siphoned off around 85pc of its entire net worth abroad, ED sources stated. ED issued a notice to AD bank and upon receiving the notice the AD bank conducted an Internal Investigation in the matter and based on the findings, recommended the case to be concluded as ‘Fraud’," ED has stated in a statement.

The seized assets are in the form of land and buildings owned by SAIPL in Tamilnadu and Telangana; Shares owned by MGM Maran in Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) Limited (representing 3.31pc shares of TMB, which has filed Draft Red Hearing Prospectus for IPO recently); shares of Indian companies SAIPL, MGM Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Anand Transport Pvt Ltd owned by MGM Anand.

MGM Maran surrendered the Indian Passport on December 21, 2016 and took ‘Cyprus Passport’ to become Cyprus Citizen. ED has stated that Maran remained totally non-compliant to the proceedings in another FEMA case and did not attend ED office even once in-spite of multiple summons. He did not submit any of his foreign assets details, resulting in another seizure order of his Indian Assets worth Rs 293 Crore in the month of December 2021, Enforcement Directorate said in a release. Further investigation is in progress.

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