FEMA:ED summons Cong leader K J George to appear before it

Senior Congress leader K J George on Tuesday said he has received a summons from the Enforcement Directorate to appear at its office here on Thursday in connection with a FEMA case.

The former minister said and he will co-operate fully with the authorities as he was a law abiding citizen.

George is being investigated by the ED for probable violation of provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

He said he recieved a summons from the Enforcement Directorate dated December 23 last year.

"My duty as a citizen is to co-operate fully with the authorities for any questions or explanations. I am a law abiding citizen, all our assets/wealth is lawfully declared," George tweeted along with the copy of the summons.

He said he has immense faith in the law and the investigating agency.

"My family and myself will extend our full cooperation with the agencies during the course of investigation," he said in another tweet.

Last year, the president ofthe KarnatakaRashtra Samithi Ravi Krishna Reddy had complained to the ED seeking a probe into the alleged money laundering and properties held by George and his family members in the United States.

According to the summons, the investigation is being conducted under provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999.

The ED has asked him to appear at the office of Directorate of Enforcement, Bengaluru Zone, on January 16 at 11 am, to give evidence or produce books of account or other documents.

George is the second senior Congress leader from Karnataka to face an ED probe after D K Shivakumar, who was arrested by the agency in a money laundering case and was kept in Tihar Jail, until he got bail in October.