No proof of Fema violations against Ramdev trusts: ED

Source: News Bharati

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ED has clarified that it has not fiound any proof of FEMA violation by Baba Ramdev

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Leaving some media sections red faced, who claimed yesterday that Baba Ramdev has been booked for FEMA violation,   Enforcement Directorate has clearified that it has not been able to establish allegations of violations of Foreign Exchange Management Act rules against him, reported  

Times of India today. ED is probing transactions of yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust.

"No complaint has been filed against his trusts so far as investigation has not yet been concluded. As of today, no Fema violation has been established against him or his trusts," a senior ED official told TOI. 

ED has been examining allegations of Fema violations behind two large remittances made by Ramdev's trusts -- $300,000 sent to London and $80,000 to Madagascar. The agency is still awaiting response from RBI on these two transactions.

"The RBI has, however, sent us details on an export outstanding of nearly $700,000 against companies owned by Ramdev's trusts," the ED official said. As per rules, any payment against exports should not remain outstanding for more than six months. In this case, RBI has reported these outstandings which could be construed as violations of rules.

Ramdev associate S K Tijarawala said, "Our trusts don't have any information about the case so far. We are a law abiding organization." He specifically denied the charge of having made any illegal remittance abroad. "This is a media trial to muzzle civil society voices against corruption," he said.

"The government is pandering to its own phobia. This is part of the tactics by which they want to silence all those people who are speaking out against corruption. They first tried divide and rule. When that did not work, they want to destroy our credibility by giving out such information. If there is indeed a case, then we should come to know about it first and not the media. That has not happened. We have received no official intimation whatsoever about any of these allegations," Tijarawala said.

The RBI, Registrar of Companies of several states and the Income Tax department are working in coordination to unearth Ramdev's expanding empire. Though he had claimed that his trusts and companies had an annual turnover of Rs 1,100 crore and were paying taxes, agencies are working on some specific remittances and a maze of companies he has floated and acquired to allegedly camouflage some high value transactions.

Ramdev's empire is controlled by his flagship Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust based in Haridwar. Besides Patanjali, there are Divya Yoga Mandir Trust and Bharat Swabhiman Trust among other charitable organizations and several commercial enterprises associated with them. No tax is paid on income from any of these trusts.

ED's probe has revealed that Ramdev's trusts own over 100 companies registered with the Kanpur registrar alone, some of them launched as late as last month. The Kanpur Registrar of Companies has sent two CDs to the agency containing information on 100-odd companies now owned by Ramdev's trusts, including Patanjali Yogpeeth, a senior official said.

His interest in acquiring a large number of ayurvedic companies has raised alarm even as officials investigating the empire are awaiting responses from registrar of companies from several other states.