ED issues Rs 7,272 cr FEMA notice to BSE-listed company

A show-cause notice of Rs 7,272 crore for an alleged contravention of the provisions of the FEMA has been issued against a BSE-listed company, Transcorp International Limited, and its promoters, the ED said on Friday.

The agency, in a statement, said the company and its board of directors made "serious lapses" as regards mandatory requirements in accordance with extant RBI master directions and instructions on know-your-customer (KYC) norms, anti-money laundering (AML) standards and combatting the financing of terrorism (CFT) for Indian agents under MTSS (money transfer service scheme) in respect of cross-border inward remittance activities.

This resulted in a "contravention" of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and hence, the company, its promoter-director Ashok Kumar Agarwal and managing director Gopal Krishan Sharma were issued the show-cause notice to the tune of Rs 7,272 crore after the conclusion of the investigation, it added.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said the company is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and has an authorised dealer category-II licence issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

It was authorised to undertake various permissible money-changing (forex) transactions, outward remittance activities etc. and was also an authorised entity and Indian agent under the MTSS licence issued by the RBI.

"It was a major market player of the MTSS business with annual payouts in the range of Rs 3,000- Rs 4,500 crore before the sale of the business to Ebixcash World Money India Limited in January 2018," the agency said.