During the raids conducted on Hero MotoCorp's Pawan Munjal, authorities seized cash and jewellery with a total estimated value of ₹ 25 Crore.

 The 69-year-old billionaire businessman's residence and offices were raided by the federal agency.

The Enforcement Directorate revealed that during the raids on Hero MotoCorp executive chairperson Pawan Kant Munjal and others, they seized foreign and Indian currencies, gold, and diamond jewellery, collectively valued at approximately ₹ 25 crore. Along with these items, the agency also confiscated "incriminating" documents.

The federal agency conducted the raids at the 69-year-old billionaire businessman's residence and offices in Delhi and Gurugram, as well as at some other entities, as part of a money laundering investigation. However, the specific breakdown of the seizure amount from each of these raids was not disclosed in the statement.

source-: livemint

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) disclosed that during the raids on Pawan Kant Munjal, Hero MotoCorp Limited, Hero Fincorp Limited, Hemant Dahiya, and K R Raman's residential and business premises, they seized foreign and Indian currencies, gold, and diamond jewellery, including foreign-origin gold, with a total estimated value of about ₹ 25 crore. The agency also recovered "incriminating" documents, hard disks, and mobiles as part of the investigation.

The ED case is based on a charge sheet filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The charge sheet by DRI, an arm of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), was filed before a Delhi Court under section 135 of the Customs Act for alleged evasion of duty or prohibitions.

The prosecution complaint by DRI accused P K Munjal, a third-party service provider company named SEMPL, and individuals like Amit Bali, Hemant Dahiya, K R Raman, and others of "carrying, attempting to export, and illicit export of prohibited items i.e. foreign currency."

According to the ED, Salt Experience and Management Pvt. Ltd. (SEMPL) illegally exported foreign currency equivalent to around ₹ 54 crore to various countries between 2014-2015 and 2018-2019. This currency was allegedly used for P K Munjal's personal expenses. SEMPL was found to have issued foreign exchange of about ₹ 14 crore in the names of its officials/employees beyond the permissible limit of USD 2,50,000 in various financial years.

Furthermore, the investigation revealed that SEMPL obtained foreign exchange/travel forex cards in significant amounts in the names of employees who did not travel abroad. The ED claimed that one of P K Munjal's key associates managed to illegally export approximately ₹ 40 crore worth of foreign currency to cover the expenses of Munjal during his personal or business foreign trips.

It is worth noting that Hero MotoCorp holds the title of the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer in terms of unit volume sales since 2001 and has maintained this position for 20 consecutive years. The company has a global presence across 40 countries in Asia, Africa, South, and Central America.

Notably, Hero MotoCorp and Pawan Kant Munjal were previously raided by the Income Tax Department in March of the previous year as part of a tax evasion investigation.

Following the searches, the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the administrative authority for the Income Tax department, reported that the tax officials uncovered suspected illegal business expenses amounting to over ₹ 800 crore. Additionally, they discovered records indicating the use of ₹ 60 crore of "unaccounted" cash for the acquisition of land in Delhi, along with the involvement of certain shell (dubious) companies in the matter.