ED issues fresh summons to Raninder Singh in FEMA case

Chandigarh: Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh's son Raninder has been issued a fresh summons to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Punjab in connection with its probe against him for alleged forex contraventions and holding of untaxed foreign assets.

Official sources said Raninder has been asked to appear before the investigating officer (IO) in the case on July 14 at the ED zonal office in Jalandhar. He has also been asked to bring personal financial documents with him, they said.

This is the second summons to Raninder after he had sought exemption from personal appearance last month, citing health reasons.

Raninder has been summoned to explain the alleged movement of funds to Switzerland and creation of a trust and a few subsidiaries in the tax haven of British Virgin Islands.

The alleged violations had earlier been investigated by the Income Tax department and a case in this regard was being heard in a court in Punjab. The next hearing in the case is slated for July 26. Raninder had earlier said he did not have anything to hide and was willing to cooperate with the probe.

The case came to light when the Income Tax department received information about Raninder allegedly holding the offshore account in the alpine nation as part of details received by the Central Board of Direct Taxes from its French counterparts in 2011.

The sources said ED investigators have gathered necessary documents from a competent court in Punjab and RBI, and they suspect "contravention of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)" by the accused. Both Raninder and his father Amarinder, a ongress MP, have denied any wrongdoing and termed as 'false' the charges.