ED grills Times Group's management over FEMA inquiry

New Delhi: The management that publishes The Times of India Group of publications has been questioned by Enforcement Directorate (ED), The Indian Express reports.

Top managers of the Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL) faced rounds of question by the central agency, alongside requesting supportive information from offshore destinations, the report said.

ED has summoned over the past few weeks to its headquarters in Delhi the company's officials including Sivakumar Sundaram who is Chairman, Executive Committee (CEC) of the company and Himanshu Agarwal, its Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Sourcing out officials the Indian Express reported that ED is focusing on transactions involving over Rs 900 crore between BCCL and entities in tax haven in British Virgin Islands (BVI).

ED is questioning the management to learn about alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), according to the report.

Neither the agency nor authorities at BCCL would give details about the questioning to the Indian Express.

As per the balance sheet of the company, according to the report, one MX Media Co Ltd is incorporated in BVI, showing its status as a "subsidiary" in 2017-18 with the parents company holding 52.35% equity.

Subsequently, the status was changed to "associate" company alongside the parent company's equity diluted to 40.36% in the years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.

There are other "associate" companies of the Group listed in BCCL's balance sheet, which have been incorporated in South Korea, China and Singapore, The Indian Express said.