This scandal has been raging for several months in India. This is a case of alleged fraud against Lalit Goyal, brother-in-law of Sudhanshu Mittal, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, India’s ruling party.
Businessman Lalit Goyal was accused, along with members of his family and several colleagues in the IREO group, of fraud and siphoning large sums of funds to be transferred to overseas entities. This is a violation of law, including those relating to the prevention of money laundering.
Arrested a month ago by the Law Enforcement Directorate, India’s equivalent of the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (ICAC), Lalit Goyal, director of IREO, has been unable to obtain bail so far. Based on the 177-page indictment published a few days ago, the businessman allegedly used a Mauritian offshore company to siphon off billions of Mauritian rupees. In an indictment filed before a judge at the Special Court for Crimes under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Lalit accused Goyal and the other defendants of being involved “directly and indirectly” in embezzling foreign funds. This has caused several group companies to become bankrupt and construction projects to be abandoned or excessively delayed.
According to The Statesman magazine, “in total, Goyal and his associates are accused of receiving Rs 8,300 crores from the Ireo Fund, in Mauritius and, in turn, transferring Rs 1,777.48 crores outside India on the pretext of repurchasing shares and other instruments. ”. Here we are talking about more than Rs 10 billion.
Using a complex network of companies based in Mauritius and Cyprus, Lalit Goyal is accused of investing in Ireo group companies in India for land purchases and transfer of development rights. Funds raised for projects from investors and home buyers have been sent overseas, leaving Indian entities underfunded and causing some of them, such as Ireo Fiveriver Private Limited and Puma Realtors Private Limited, to become bankrupt.
The consequence was that thousands of Indian buyers lost the properties they had purchased. According to the indictment cited by The Statesman, analysis of digital records showed that Lalit Goyal, despite claiming to have no overseas assets, held shares valued at more than $3.2 million US dollars (i.e. Rs 147.8 million) in foreign entities, including one in Bermudas. He is a shareholder in a company registered in Mauritius and called Park Chinois. Established on 28 November 2012. Its official address is Raffles Tower, Ebon Cybercity, which is managed by a fund manager.
