Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been summoned to appear before the Enforcement Directorate in the Panama Papers case.
She had sought adjournments on two occasions earlier. “Let us wait and see if she responds to the third summons and comes,” Indian Express quotes an official by saying.
Rai Bachchan was one of several prominent personalities named in the International Consortium of Investigative 2016 Panama Papers leak. The Panama Papers pertain to leaked documents that point towards fraud and tax evasion by many individuals and corporate entities across the world.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s name featured in the list of 500 Indians who were named in the massive leak of 11.5 million tax documents exposing their secret offshore dealings. Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan’s name is also featured in the list.
The papers regarding the Bachchans were part of records maintained by Mossack Fonseca (MF), a Panamanian firm that helped set up offshore entities, according to Indian Express. These showed that for at least three years, Rai and her family were part of Amic Partners.
The Panama Papers case is being probed by an SIT consisting of officers from ED, Income Tax, and other agencies.
Actor Abhishek Bacchan had also recently been summoned for questioning by the ED. The summons to Aishwarya and Abhishek were issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
