ED seizes Rs16 cr from Alphageon PNS | Hyderabad

Sleuths of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) have seized Rs. 16 crore belonging to M/s Alphageo (India) Limited in the form of fixed deposits under certain provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA, 1999).

An investigation against M/s Alphageo India Limited(M/s Alphageo) was initiated by ED on the basis of information received that M/s Alphageo had transferred and parked certain funds in the United Arab Emirates in contravention of the provisions of FEMA, 1999.

During preliminary investigations, it was revealed that M/s Alphageo, a Hyderabad-based company engaged in providing seismic survey services to various oil exploration and production companies in India and abroad, had been improperly importing various items of equipment for seismic data acquisition from suppliers based in France, Singapore, the Netherlands, etc. Further investigation revealed that equipment for seismic data acquisition was directly received from various suppliers by M/s Alphageo.

However, payment for the same was routed through an entity M/s Matrix Group DMCC, maintained and controlled by Rajiv Saxena, a Chartered Accountant based in Dubai and a hawala operator for these imports.Further investigations revealed that by way of over-invoicing import bills for these imports M/s Alphageo had parked funds into the account of M/s Matrix Group DMCC for the personal benefit of Dinesh Alla, Chairman and Managing Director of M/s Alphageo (India) Limited in contravention of provisions of FEMA Act, 1999.

Investigations revealed that an amount of US $ 25,34,628 was held outside India in contravention of Section 4 of FEMA, 1999. Therefore, funds amounting to Rs 16 crore, equivalent to value of foreign funds parked in the United Arab Emirates by M/s Alphageo, have been seized in India under Section 37A of FEMA, 1999. According to ED authorities, investigation in the matter is under progress.