The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) carried out searches and seizures at three Bengaluru locations in the case of Raveendaran Byju and his company ‘Think & Learn Private Limited’ in accordance with the terms of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
ED stated that two of the three properties are commercial and one is residential. Byju’s is a prominent online education platform offered by the corporation. Various incriminating documents and digital data were seized during the search and seizure operation.
According to the ED, investigations also found that the company got roughly Rs 28,000 crore in foreign direct investment between 2011 and 2023.
In addition, the ED stated that the company transferred approximately Rs 9,754 crore (approximately) to a number of foreign jurisdictions in the name of overseas direct investment during the same time frame.
“The company has booked around Rs 944 Crore in the name of Advertisement and Marketing expenses including the amount remitted to foreign jurisdiction. The company has 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 are being cross-examined from the banks,” Enforcement Directorate said.
An inquiry of the education platform was launched in response to numerous complaints submitted from various private individuals.
A number summonses were served to the founder and CEO Raveendaran Byju during the ED investigation, yet he always remained deceptive and never showed up during the investigation.
ED has said that further investigation is under progress.
