ED conducts searches at premises of Byju's CEO Raveendran, incriminating documents seized
Bengaluru (Karnataka), April 29: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Saturday conducted searches and seizure action at three premises in Bengaluru in the case of Raveendaran Byju and his company 'Think & Learn Private Limited.' According to the information received, the searches have been conducted under the provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
ED stated that two of the three properties are Business and one residential. The company runs a popular online education platform called Byju's.
Various incriminating documents and digital data were seized during the search operation.
According to the ED, officials also found that the company got around Rs 28,000 crore in foreign direct investment between 2011 and 2023.
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Furthermore, the ED stated that the company remitted approximately Rs 9,754 crore (approximately) to various foreign jurisdictions in the name of overseas direct investment during the same period.
"The company has booked around Rs 944 Crore in the name of Advertisement and Marketing expenses including the amount remitted to foreign jurisdiction. The company has not prepared its financial statements since the financial year 2020-21 and has not got the accounts, audited which is mandatory. Hence, the genuineness of the figures provided by the company are being cross-examined from the banks," the ED informed.
The investigation was initiated on the basis of various complaints received from various private persons against the education platform.
Several summonses were issued to the founder and CEO Raveendaran Byju during the ED investigation, but he always remained evasive and never appeared during the investigation.
Further investigation is underway.
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- ANI
