The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday said it has searched the Bengaluru-located office and residential premises of Edtech major BYJU’s and its CEO and co-founder Raveendran Byju and seized “incriminating” documents and digital data as part of a foreign exchange violation probe. A total of three premises, two business and one residential, including that of the registered company – Think & Learn Pvt Ltd – were raided under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), it said.
The federal financial investigation agency said in a statement it has seized various “incriminating documents and digital data”.
A spokesperson for BJYU’s legal team said the ED action was a “routine inquiry” and the company has been “completely transparent with the authorities and have provided them with all the information they have requested.”
The ED alleged the company (Think & Learn Pvt Ltd) has not prepared its financial statements since 2020-21 fiscal and has not got the accounts audited, which is mandatory. Hence, the genuineness of the figures provided by the company are being cross-examined from the banks, it said.
It said the action was taken on the basis of “various complaints” received by private people and alleged Raveendran Byju was issued “several” summons but he remained “evasive and never appeared” before the ED.
The searches found that the company received foreign direct investment (FDI) to the tune of Rs 28,000 crore during 2011-2023.
“The company also remitted about Rs 9,754 crore to various foreign jurisdictions during the same period in the name of overseas direct investment,” the agency said. “The company has booked around Rs 944 crore in the name of advertisement and marketing expenses including the amount remitted to foreign jurisdiction.”
The spokesperson for BJYU’s added: “We have nothing but the utmost confidence in the integrity of our operations, and we are committed to upholding the highest standards of compliance and ethics. We will continue to work closely with the authorities to ensure that they have all the information they need, and we are confident that this matter will be resolved in a timely and satisfactory manner.”