Swiss bank accounts: ED seizes Rs 10.28-cr assets of ex-Emaar MGF MD

The Enforcement Directorate said Saturday it has seized assets worth Rs 10.28 crore of Shravan Gupta, former MD of realty major Emaar MGF, in connection with its FEMA probe in the HSBC blackmoney list unearthed a few years ago.

The central probe agency said in a statement it has taken the action against Gupta under the Foreign Exchange Management Act for "holding USD 15,40,650 in his bank account maintained with HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in Switzerland".

The ED said it has seized an agricultural land worth over Rs 10.27 crore in Delhi's Bijwasan area as an equivalent amount of the asset held abroad.

"The seizure order has been issued pursuant to investigation which revealed that prima facie Gupta had foreign exchange held to the tune of USD 15,40,650 in his bank account in HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Switzerland, situated outside India in contravention of provisions of Section 4 of FEMA, 1999.

"Gupta had not shown this amount in the Income Tax returns filed in India for the period 2006-07. However, he had declared this amount in 2011-12 and paid appropriate taxes," the ED said in a statement.

It added that Gupta "failed to produce any evidence of repatriating the entire amount to India till date."