ED raids premises of Empuraan’s producer in connection with chit fund case

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Saturday recovered around Rs 1.50 crore in cash and incriminating documents after raiding premises of businessman and producer of the controversial Malayalam film “Empuraan”, Gokulam Gopalan in Kozhikode in Kerala and Chennai in Tamil Nadu, in connection with a chit fund case.

The raids had begun on April 4 and continued till Saturday (April 5), the federal agency said. The raids were launched just a week after the film, which has an anti-communal storyline and highlights Gujarat’s Godhra communal riots, was released.

Veteran actor Mohanlal, who stars in the film, had immediately apologised for inadvertently hurting any particular community’s sentiments.

The ED team from Kochi had raided one location in Kozhikode and two locations in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, at the residential and business premises of Sree Gokulam Chits and Finance Co Pvt Ltd, owned by Gokulam Gopalan.

ED had initiated investigations based on the specific intelligence gathered that M/s Sree Gokulam Chits and Finance Co Pvt Ltd, without due permission from the competent authority, were collecting subscription to chit funds from the persons residing outside India.

Further, the subscription amounts from the persons residing outside India were being collected in cash in violation of the regulations framed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

This led to the violation of the Regulation 4(b) of Foreign Exchange Management (Permissible Capital Account Transactions) Regulations, 2000 r/w Circular No. 107 dated June 11, 2015 issued by RBI.

ED investigations revealed that M/s Sree Gokulam Chits and Finance Co Pvt Ltd had collected an amount of Rs 371.80 crore in cash from the persons residing outside India and Rs 220.74 crore through cheques from the same category of people.

It was also revealed that significant amounts were paid in cash to the persons residing outside India in violation of Section 3(b) of FEMA, 1999.

Further investigation is under progress.

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