Enforcement Directorate begins probe against Naveen Jindal in forex violation case

After sources revealed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) received an official communication from Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in Singapore which said that at least four bank accounts held by Naveen Jindal and his family, which include his wife and two children, were being operated in a Swiss private bank, Zee/dna on Tuesday managed to access the same documents currently in possession of the probing agency. The document list the owners of the accounts along with their respective numbers and date of opening.

Moreover, following the latest revelations by sources to Zee/dna, officials at ED on Tuesday confirmed that a probe against the industrialist and his family for alleged contravention of forex laws has indeed begun. A charge which has been denied by the former Congress MP.

However, the documents provided by Singapore FIU have given ED a fresh opportunity to probe the industrialist and his family. According to the information received by the ED, Jindal is purportedly the funds provider for three accounts, one of each owned by his wife Shallu Jindal, daughter Yashasvini Jindal and son Venkatesh Naveen Jindal. One of the accounts is under the name of the industrialist himself. The private bank has been identified as Julius Baer and Co. Ltd.

The document states that account number 3200002 with beneficial owner as Naveen Jindal, 3200001, owner Shallu Jindal, 3100012, owner Yashasvini Jindal and 320022, owner Venkatesh Jindal, all have been opened in the March month of 2010 and are categorised under 'Personal Investment Account'.

While Jindal's wife's account was opened on 29 March 2010, the other opening dates of the other accounts are is March 19.

The same documents mentioned some "extraordinary" transactions have been made in these accounts, and as per international treaty protocols, the Singapore FIU shared the information with their Indian counterparts. It was later handed over to ED for "appropriate action".

When contacted, a Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) spokesperson denied any contravention or wrongdoing on the part of the Jindals in the case and added the remittances outside India has been done through Barclays Bank, the Authorized dealer of RBI and the transactions are in compliance with the Liberalised Remittance Scheme for resident individuals. He also said that no approval from RBI is required for this and only the Authorized Dealer is required to furnish information to RBI regarding the remittance made.

"It is quite evident from the scheme that the applicant is neither required to take any approval from RBI nor furnish information on remittances and it is only the authorised dealer who is required to furnish information to RBI with regard to the remittances made," the spokesperson said.

The agency is now inquiring if rules were followed by all the stakeholders to conduct transactions in a legal manner and if these accounts and the amounts deposited in them were made known to the Indian tax authorities.