ED seizes Rs 16 crore belonging to Hyderabad-based firm

ED said it has seized Rs 16 crore belonging to the Hyderabad-based Alphageo (India) Limited in the form of fixed deposit under the provisions of FEMA.

Hyderabad: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Wednesday said it has seized Rs.16 crore belonging to the Hyderabad-based Alphageo (India) Limited in the form of fixed deposit under the provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

According to an ED press release, an investigation against Alphageo India Limited was initiated by the ED on the basis of information received that the firm had transferred and parked certain funds in the United Arab Emirates in contravention to the provisions of the FEMA. During investigation, it was revealed that the Alphageo was a Hyderabad-based company engaged in providing seismic survey services to various oil exploration and production companies in India and abroad. The company has been importing various equipment for seismic data acquisition from several suppliers based in France, Singapore, Netherlands, etc, the release said.

Investigation further revealed that equipment for seismic data acquisition were directly received from various suppliers by Alphageo, however the payment for the same was routed through an entity Matrix Group DMCC, maintained and controlled by Rajiv Saxena, a Chartered Accountant based in Dubai and a hawala operator for these imports. Further investigation revealed that by way of over invoicing import bills for these imports, Alphageo had parked funds into the account of Matrix Group for the personal benefit of Dinesh Alla, Chairman and Managing Director of Alphageo in contravention of provisions of the FEMA Act. Investigation also revealed that an amount of US $25,34,628 was held outside India in contravention of Section 4 of FEMA, the ED said, adding that therefore, the equivalent value of the foreign funds parked in the UAE by Alphageo, amounting to Rs.16 crore, was seized in India.

Further investigation is under progress, it said.