ED raids eight ‘George Soros-linked entities’ in Bengaluru

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday raided eight locations in Bengaluru said to be linked to Open Society Foundations, an organisation backed by United States billionaire philanthropist George Soros, as part of its investigation into alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, reported PTI.

The news agency, citing unidentified sources, reported that the searches were conducted against some alleged beneficiaries of the Open Society Foundations and related entities, including those linked to international human rights bodies.

The case pertains to foreign direct investment allegedly routed to non-government organisations by Open Society Foundations and the utilisation of these funds by certain beneficiaries allegedly in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

A preliminary investigation by the agency suggests that the Open Society Foundations was placed under the “Prior Reference Category” by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2016, which barred it from giving unregulated donations to non-government organisations in India.

“In order to bypass this restriction, OSF had subsidiaries in India and brought in funds in the form of FDI [foreign direct investment] and consultancy fees and these funds have been used to fund activities of the NGOs which is a FEMA contravention,” an Enforcement Directorate official said, according to The Indian Express.

The agency is also examining the end use of other foreign direct investment...

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