The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday attached an amount of Rs. 79,76,00,041 under PMLA in the case of Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore for illegally entering into an agreement with ISRO/Antrix Corporation (ACL Commercial Arm of ISRO) by fraudulently representing certain facts and on entering the agreement collected investments from abroad through criminal conspiracy.
In this case, the CBI, ACU, New Delhi had filed a FIR against Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore (Devas) and others and subsequently on completion of investigation filed charge sheet in the case.
Investigation under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002 was initiated against the Devas and others by the Directorate of Enforcement based on the FIR registered and Charge Sheet filed by the CBI.
Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore on January 28, 2005 falsely claimed that it had the ownership and intellectual property rights to use the technology for delivering multimedia services enters into an agreement with ISRO/ACL for providing Multimedia Services in India.
Few employees of ISRO/ACL also conspired with the Devas for entering the agreement. On the strength of the said Agreement the Devas raised foreign investment of Rs. 579,07,42,505.
Devas also incorporated its subsidiary company in America in the name Devas Multimedia America Inc. and out of the foreign investment raised of Rs. 579,07,42,505 an amount of Rs. 76,19,04,5643 was transferred to it as Investment.
Further, an amount of Rs. 180,77,58,989 was also transferred to its subsidiary in America in the guise/pretext of providing Business Support Services and a further amount of Rs. 230,11,14,734 was spent as legal fee and out of the said amount a major portion was transferred to USA in the guise/pretext of legal fee.
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The agreement entered by Devas with the ISRO/ACL is illegal as Devas did
not have any technology/ownership of intellectual property rights to deliver the Multimedia Services and the main purpose of entering the agreement with ISRO/ACL was to raise foreign investments on the strength of the Agreement with ISRO and thereafter siphon off the investment raised, out of India in the guise of investment in subsidiary company, business support services and legal fee.
The subject company never did any major business in India other than providing Internet Services to about 20 to 25 customers in Bangalore.
However, nearly 85 percent of the foreign investment raised was siphoned off out of India in the guise/pretext of investment/services/fee.
The proceeds of crime totally amounting to Rs. 79,76,00,041 in the form of upfront capacity reservation fee available with ISRO as well as in the form of Mutual Fund Deposits and Bank Deposits has now been provisionally attached under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 on 27-2-2017.