ED questions founder of Hiranandani Group in FEMA violation case

Niranjan Hiranandani had earlier skipped the summon citing health concerns, while his son Darshan Hiranandani had requested the agency to give him some time to join the probe.

Builder Niranjan Hiranandani of real estate major Hiranandani Group at the Ballard Estate office of Enforcement Directorate (ED) to face inquiry in connection with a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations case. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Niranjan Hiranandani, the founder and managing director of Hiranandani Group appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at the agency’s Ballard Estate office in Mumbai on Monday where officials questioned him in connection with a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violation case.

While coming out of ED office after a questioning session that lasted for nearly 10 hours, Hiranandani said, “We have answered theirs questions multiple times. It is related to FDI. There is nothing new to the case. We were happy to answer their questions. There were no new issues raised.”

The central agency had last month conducted searches at Hiranandani Group premises in and around Mumbai. After the searches, the agency summoned Niranjan Hiranandani and his son Darshan Hiranandani for questioning.

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Niranjan Hiranandani had earlier skipped a summons citing health concerns, while Darshan Hiranandani had requested the agency to give him some time to join the probe.

Sources said the accused group routed investments of more than Rs 400 crore in the form of FDIs received in group companies with real estate projects in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. It is alleged that the money was not utilised as per prescribed government guidelines.

The Hiranandanis had set up at least 25 companies and a trust in the British Virgin Islands between 2006 and 2008.

Niranjan Hiranandani and his family members were the alleged beneficiaries of the offshore trust, which had accumulated assets of more than $60 million, agency sources said.

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The group was also named in the “Pandora Papers” published by The Indian Express.

The official spokesperson of the Hiranandani Group stated, “The company representative will remain fully cooperative in submitting required documents as was done previously multiple times and will appear when needed.”

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