THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches at eight locations in Bengaluru linked to the Open Society Foundations (OSF) founded by US billionaire George Soros and its investment arm, the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF), as part of its probe into alleged foreign exchange violations.
The OSF did not respond to an email sent by The Indian Express.
The premises of some of the beneficiaries of OSF and SEDF, including those linked to some international human rights bodies, and a company named Aspada Investments Pvt Ltd were searched under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), sources said.
ED sources called Aspada Investments the investment advisor or fund manager of SEDF in India. According to sources, Aspada Investment Company was set up by the OSF in Mauritius to channelise funding in India. “Aspada Investment Advisors Pvt Ltd (AIAPL) was established in Bengaluru on February 4, 2013, to manage/ advise SEDF’s investment in India. It is learnt that SEDF funded more than 12 companies in India to the tune of Rs 300 crore, and ED is collecting evidence,” said sources.
According to sources, a preliminary investigation showed that OSF was placed under ‘Prior Reference Category’ (PRC) by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on May 30, 2016. “Since then, OSF needs prior sanction of MHA for sending money to FCRA registered organisations in India. SEDF is the social impact investment arm of the OSF,” said sources.
In order to bypass such restrictions, “the OSF had subsidiaries in India and brought in funds in the form of FDI and consultancy fees, and these funds have been used to fund activities of the NGOs, which is a FEMA contravention”, ED sources said.
The ED is probing the end use of the FDI funds.
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