The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday carried out searches at the three premises of Byju Raveendran, the founder and chief executive officer of ‘Think and Learn Private Ltd’ which runs an ed-tech platform under the name of BYJU.
The probe agency carried out searches under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), having seized various incriminating documents and digital data. According to the probe agency, the company received foreign direct investment (FDI) worth Rs 28,000 crore between 2011 and 2023. It remitted approximately Rs 9,754 crore to various foreign jurisdictions during the same period in the name of overseas direct investment, as per a Hindustan Times report.
As per ED, Think & Learn Private Limited had booked around Rs 944 crore in the name of advertisement and marketing expenses including the money remitted to foreign jurisdictions. However, the company did not prepare its financial statements since fiscal year 2020-21 and not got the accounts audited. Hence, the genuineness of the figures provided by the company is being cross-examined by the banks, the agency added.
The probe against the platform was initiated on the basis of various complaints received from various private persons. During the investigation conducted by the ED, several summonses were issued to Byju Raveendran, who always remained evasive and never appeared during the investigation. In response to the searches, a spokesperson of BYJU’s legal team stated, “The recent visit by officials from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Bangalore was related to a routine inquiry under FEMA.”
“We have been completely transparent with the authorities and have provided them with all the information they have requested. We have nothing but the utmost confidence in the integrity of our operations, and we are committed to upholding the highest standards of compliance and ethics. We will continue to work closely with the authorities to ensure that they have all the information they need, and we are confident that this matter will be resolved in a timely and satisfactory manner,” the spokesperson added.
