Bengaluru: Sleuths from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) headquarters in Delhi are conducting raids in Bengaluru as part of the Agency’s probe into alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, violations by Soros Economic Development Fund (EDF) and Open Source Foundation (OSF). According to the ED, searches are being carried out at eight locations.
It had come to the ED’s notice, during earlier investigations, that Soros OSF was put under Prior Reference Category by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2016. This restricted it from distributing unrestricted amounts to NGOs in India. Any entity – particularly a foreign donor – under the Prior Reference Category needs to seek clearance from the MHA before donating to any NGO.
“In order to bypass this restriction, OSF had subsidiaries in India and brought in funds in the form of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and consultancy fees. These funds were then used for several activities by NGOs. This is a FEMA contravention. ED is also examining the end use of other FDI funds brought in by Soros EDF and OSF,” an official said.
According to him, searches are being carried out at the premises of M/s Aspada Investments Pvt Ltd, the investment advisor/fund manager of Soros EDF in India. This is a wholly owned subsidiary of a Mauritius entity.
US billionaire George Soros, who claims to be a philanthropist, has been in the sights of Indian agencies for years, for allegedly funding activities to overthrow the Modi-led NDA government. Soros has been a critic of Modi and has even called his election to power ‘undemocratic’. Soros is also known to have batted for the independence of Kashmir.
There has also been a political battle raging for years, with the BJP accusing organisations linked to both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi of having ties with Soros’ EDF and OSF. The BJP has been claiming that funds have been received to destabilise the government at the Centre.