Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov.16: Lalit Goyal, vice chairman and managing director of the Ireo Group, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday in connection with a money laundering case. After four days of questioning, Goyal was detained.
Sources said Goyal was being questioned in connection with a case launched by the ED at its Chandigarh branch, which has been investigating a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violation case against the company since 2010.
Last Thursday, Goyal was held by immigration officials at the Delhi International Airport when he attempted to board a trip to another country. A lookout circular had been opened against him, thus he was detained.
“Since his detention at the airport, we have been questioning him. He was appearing before ED every day for interrogation but has been evading questions. Since he has not been cooperating, he had to be put under arrest,” a senior ED official said.
Sources said he has been taken to Chandigarh where he will be produced in a competent court.
The Indian Express in a report published on October 12 had revealed that the company had moved US $ 77 million to offshore Trusts even as homebuyers and investors had approached authorities and courts against the company for return of their money.
The main company of the IREO Group, IREO Private Limited, is losing money — Rs 500 crore in 2018-19.
The group’s co-founder Lalit Goyal, whose sister is married to BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal, moved assets, investments, and shareholdings worth an estimated $77 million to an offshore trust structure that included four entities registered in the British Virgin Islands much before the group got into trouble, according to revelations made in Indian Express’s Pandora Papers expose. Internal documents from Trident Trust, a multinational business services firm, confirmed this.
According to these documents, Goyal established the Oak Veneer Trust in tax haven Guernsey with Standard Chartered Trust (Guernsey) Ltd as a trustee, with his residence address listed as Marina Bay Residences, 18 Marina Boulevard, #45-08, Singapore. Oak Veneer Trust’s ‘Settlor,’ or person who establishes or authors the trust, is Goyal. He and Standard Chartered Trust (Guernsey) Ltd, which is a trustee of Oak Veneer, are the ‘Beneficial Owners’ of the four offshore corporations, which were all purchased to hold property, shareholdings, and investments, or to serve as a ‘investment vehicle.’
According to the latest assessment submitted with Indian tax authorities, Goyal is a Non-Resident Indian, according to Sasttra Legal, Advocates and Solicitors, who responded to The Indian Express report on his behalf on October 12.
“It is reiterated that all investments made by Mr Lalit Goyal are legitimate and no monies from homebuyers have either been invested or ‘illegally siphoned’ off,” the law firm said.
