On October 9, CNBC-TV18 claimed that the Delhi Police had filed a complaint against Pawan Munjal, the executive chairman of Hero MotoCorp.
According to the FIR obtained by Mint, five people have been named as defendants: company Hero MotoCorp executive Pawan Munjal; officers Vikram Kasbekar and Hari Gupta and Manjula Banerji (the firm’s auditor in 2009 and 2010), who is listed as a partner in Deloitte Haskens & Sells. Brains Logistics is the complainant.
As per the report, the complaint has alleged that the accused colluded to “cheat and falsify the books … and manufactured fake month wise bills debited against the complainant totaling ₹5,94,52,525 ( ₹5.95 crore) for 2009 and 2010.”
Further, Brains Logistics claims that Hero MotoCorp’s contract with them expired on March 31, 2009, and that all bills showing debits to them after that date are therefore fabricated.
The stock was down 2.75 percent or 83.50 points from the day’s opening at the time this article was first written at 12.26 p.m. The stock had dropped to 2949.15 at 1:45 p.m., a further 3.10 points lower.
According to official sources cited by PTI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched locations in connection with a money laundering investigation involving Munjal and others in August of this year.
The searches were conducted at the 69-year-old billionaire businessman’s residential and commercial properties in Delhi and nearby Gurugram, as well as at addresses associated with some linked entities.
According to the sources, the ED launched these raids after filing a case against them in accordance with the PMLA’s regulations against money laundering.
In a statement, the company welcomed the ED’s visits to two of its offices—one each in Delhi and Gurugram—as well as Executive Chairman Dr. Pawan Munjal’s residence. The company’s commitment to working with the agency was emphasised in the statement.
The allegations
The ED case originates from a complaint made against Munjal by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), an investigative department of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), according to the report.
According to reports, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) provided the Customs officials with the information they needed to apprehend the executive.
On August 20, 2018, the CISF found foreign currency totaling more than 81 lakh in the executive and Munjal’s hand luggage as they went through security checks before boarding a British Airways aircraft to London from the Delhi international airport.
The currency was seized by Customs in accordance with foreign exchange management legislation, and judicial actions in this matter are said to be underway.
In March 2022, the Income Tax Department conducted raids at the premises of Munjal and Hero MotorCorp as part of an investigation into tax evasion. The Central Board of Direct Taxes, the administrative authority for the I-T Department, reported that during these searches, the tax officials uncovered alleged illegal business expenses exceeding ₹800 crore. Additionally, they found records indicating the use of ₹60 crore in “unaccounted” cash for the purchase of land in Delhi and the involvement of certain shell companies.
In response to these findings, the vehicle manufacturer declared in a regulatory filing that it is a “law-abiding corporate, with robust internal financial controls” and that its “financial statements are duly audited.”
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Source: LIVE mint
