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By Munish Chandra Pandey: After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths conducted searches at Byju’s founder Raveendran Byju’s properties, he, in an email, reassured employees of the company that the entity had been compliant with the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
India Today has accessed the email content that read, “I wanted to take a moment to address the recent news of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) searches at our premises in Bangalore. The recent visit by the ED is an enquiry under FEMA. The information requested by and furnished to the officers in connection with the FDI raised, overseas investments made, and cross-border transactions relating to marketing and branding activities by BYJU’S has previously been submitted by our authorized representatives.”
The email further read, “As you are aware, we have made a number of overseas acquisitions (investing an amount of approx. Rs. 9,000 crores) over the years as part of our growth strategy. These acquisitions have been instrumental in expanding our reach and impact. In order to fund these acquisitions, we have remitted some of our funding overseas. I also want to highlight that BYJU’S has brought more FDI to India than any other Indian startup (Rs. 28,000 crores) , and as a result, we have been able to create job opportunities for more than 55,000 talented professionals. This makes us India’s largest employer among startups.”
“BYJU’S has taken all efforts to fully comply with all applicable foreign exchange laws and all our cross-border transactions have been duly vetted by both its professional advisors/counsel and advisors/counsel of the investment funds and other sophisticated counterparties. Additionally, all such transactions are routed only through regular banking channels/the RBI’s authorized dealer banks and the requisite documentation and statutory filings have been duly submitted. I want to reassure you that we are fully cooperating with the authorities,” it further read.
“As we are funded by 70+ impact investors who have satisfactorily done due diligence on our operations, including all FEMA compliance, we are confident that the authorities will also come to the same conclusion, the CEO stated.
ED RAIDS BYJU CEO’S PROPERTY
On Friday, The ED conducted searches and seizures at three premises in Bengaluru in connection with a case lodged against Raveendaran Byju and his company ‘Think & Learn Private Limited’ under the provisions of the FEMA rules.
The company runs a popular online education portal under the name of Byju. During the search and seizure action, various incriminating documents and digital data were seized, officials said.
“FEMA searches also revealed that the company has received foreign direct investment to the tune of Rs 28,000 crore during the period from 2011 to 2023. Further, the company has also remitted Rs.9754 crore to various foreign jurisdictions during the same period in the name of overseas direct investment,” said the agency.
According to officials, the company has booked around Rs 944 crore in the name of advertisement and marketing expenses, including the amount remitted to foreign jurisdictions.
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The company has allegedly 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 is being cross-examined by the banks,” the probe agency added.
The investigation against the platform was initiated on the basis of several complaints. During the investigation, a summons was issued to the founder and CEO, Raveendaran Byju. However, he always remained evasive and never appeared during the investigation, as per officials.
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