CBI books NDTV founders Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy and others for alleged violation of FDI norms

News Bharati    21-Aug-2019
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Mumbai, August 21: Following the new leads in a new case for alleged violation of foreign direct investment rules, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday booked news television network NDTV’s founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy and former Chief Executive Officer Vikram Chandra for cheating and corruption.

 
 
Being booked under charges of criminal conspiracy, the news network allegedly floated 32 subsidiaries in several tax haven countries between 2004 and 2010 to bring foreign funds to India through illegal transactions, the statement issued by CBI reported.
 
On August 9, the Roys were detained at the Mumbai airport and prevented from leaving the country. NDTV in a statement had said they had been stopped on the basis of a fake and totally unsubstantiated corruption case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation about an ICICI Bank loan that their company, RRPR Holdings, had taken.
 
It had also further said that the authorities did not inform the Delhi High Court or the Roys that they would be detained at the airport. It had claimed that the action was a warning to the media to fall in line.
 
However, in a right stance, the Securities and Exchange Board of India in June barred the Roys from the securities market, as well as from holding any managerial posts in the news network for two years. SEBI said it passed the order because the Roys had allegedly violated insider trading regulations.
 
The markets regulator had initiated an investigation after an NDTV shareholder claimed that Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy and RRPR Holdings had not disclosed information about loan agreements they entered into with a company known as Vishvapradhan Commercial. ICICI Bank was also part of this agreement.