The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday stated it has slapped a complete penalty quantity of greater than Rs 61 crore towards Amnesty India and its former head Aakar Patel for contravening the Indian overseas change regulation.
The federal probe company present brought about Amnesty India International Pvt. Ltd (AIIPL) with a penalty discover, issued beneath the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), of Rs 51.72 crore, whereas the nice quantity towards Patel is Rs 10 crore.
The order has been issued on completion of the probe by the adjudicating authority of FEMA, which is a particular director rank officer of the ED.
The company alleged London-based Amnesty International despatched big quantity of overseas contribution to its Indian entities (AIIPL), throughout November 2013 to June 2018, “in guise of business activities” to flee FCRA scrutiny”.
FCRA stands for overseas contribution regulation Act.
The company stated it initiated a FEMA probe on the idea of knowledge that Amnesty International, UK had been remitting “huge amount” of overseas contribution by means of its Indian entities (non-FCRA corporations) following FDI (overseas direct funding) route, so as to evade FCRA to develop its NGO actions in India.
This was despatched, it stated, regardless of the “denial” of prior registration or permissions to Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) and different trusts beneath the FCRA by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
“During the period between November 2013-June 2018, remittance which was received by AIIPL and claimed as receipt for business/management consultancy and public relation services for export of services to foreign beneficiary is nothing but amount borrowed from overseas remitter, thereby violating the FEMA provisions,” it stated.
The adjudicating authority, after getting detailed reply from AIIPL and following principal of pure justice, held that “AIIPL is an umbrella entity under Amnesty International Ltd., UK, which was declared to be set up for the cause of social activities in India”.
“However, AIIPL has involved in many activities which are not relevant to their declared commercial business, and circumventing model has been applied by them to route the foreign funds in the guise of business activities to escape FCRA scrutiny,” the assertion stated.
All contentions and submission from AIIPL concerning the declare of the remittance in direction of the export of companies to Amnesty International have been dismissed, within the “absence of” concrete proof, the ED stated.
“Consequently, it is held that the funds that have arrived to the hands of AIIPL through inward remittances to the tune of Rs 51,72,78,111.87 is nothing but the fund lent by Amnesty International to AIIPL to ensure its objectives in the territorial jurisdiction of India, which is not in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 3 of Foreign Exchange Management (borrowing and lending in foreign exchange) Regulations, 2000,” the company stated.
Source: www.financialexpress.com”