The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized Rs3.94 crore of bank balance of Edu-tech major Pigeon Education Technology India Private Limited in an alleged foreign exchange fraud case. The Chinese backed online education company provides online classes under the brand name Odaclass.
Earlier, an amount of Rs8.31 crore was seized by the ED in the same case against Pigeon Education Technology, which is owned by Chinese national Liu Kan. The money laundering and foreign exchange probe agency has alleged that Liu Kan siphoned Rs82.72 crore to Hong Kong and China on the pretext of marketing and advertising expenses.
A total of Rs12.25 crore has been seized under section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) till date, the agency said.
The ED’s searches against the firm revealed that it was 100% owned by Chinese nationals and all the affairs of the company, including financial decisions, are being taken by persons in China. The investigators claimed that the Indian director and accounts manager admitted during questioning that the payments were made only on the instructions of Liu Kan.
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The Indian director stated that the Chinese director told them that the said advertisements were published through Google and Facebook but no confirmation or invoice raised by these platforms had been submitted.
