Mumbai: Owners of Rajasthan Royals including IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi's kin Suresh Chellaram and actress Shilpa Shetty have allegedly flouted foreign exchange norms using the Mauritius route, I-T sources said on Sunday.
"Our primary investigations suggest that Jaipur franchise, Rajasthan Royals jointly owned by IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi's brother-in-law Suresh Chellaram and actress Shilpa Shetty's husband along with others, is 'prima facie' found to have flouted maximum regulations including that of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)," the sources told PTI.
The I-T department had received the documents related to the ownership of franchises from BCCI and IPL on April 23. "EM Sporting Holding, Mauritius, whose wholly owned subsidiary Jaipur IPL Pvt Ltd which owns Rajasthan Royals, has a complex ownership structure where all the stake holding companies are based in various tax havens.
The Enforcement Directorate has already started enquiry about the FEMA violations. Our enquiry will be focused on the stake holding structure, the source of money and whether there is any benami stake holding," the sources said.
Chellaram is said to own 44.15 per cent stake in EM Sporting Holding, Mauritius, through Tresco Internatonal Ltd based in British Virgin Islands. UK-based Manoj ale who is alleged to be a Modi-aide, owns 32.4 per cent through Emerging Media.
Lachlan Murdoch, son of media baron Rupert Murdoch, owned Hong-Kong based Blue Water Estate, holds 11.7 per cent. Bahamas-based Kuki Investments which is owned by Kundra family (Shilpa Shetty's in laws) holds another 11.7 per cent stake in EM Sporting Holding, Mauritius. Rajasthan Royals is owned by Jaipur IPL Pvt Ltd, which is a wholly owned by EM Sporting Holding, Mauritius.
Both Chellaram and Shilpa Shetty have denied any wrongdoing. PTI
