ED attaches properties worth ₹24 crore of Hero MotoCorp CEO Pawan Munjal

ED on Friday seized a few properties worth ₹24.95 crore of Pawan Munjal, CMD of Hero MotoCorp, in Delhi. The probe agency attached three immovable properties located in the national capital under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 belonging to Munjal.

According to a press statement by the anti-money laundering agency, ED officials initiated the investigation on the basis of a "Prosecution Complaint filed by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) u/s 135 of the Customs Act, 1962 against P K Munjal, Chairman and CMD of M/s Hero Motocorp and others for taking foreign exchange/currency out of India illegally".

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The complaint alleges that Foreign Currency/ Foreign Exchange equivalent to ₹54 crore was illegally taken out of India.

ED probe revealed that the business tycoon got issued foreign exchange/ foreign currency in the name of other persons and thereafter utilised the same for his personal expenditure abroad.

The foreign exchange was drawn from authorised dealers by an event management company in the name of various employees and thereafter handed over to Munjal's relationship manager, ED said.

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The agency added that Munjal's relationship manager carried such foreign currency/ foreign exchange in cash/ card secretly during the personal/business trips of the CEO.

"The modus was adopted to override the limits of $2.5 Lakh per annum per person under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme," according to ED's statement.

Earlier, ED conducted a search operation on 1 August this year with respect to Munjal and other related people and seized valuables worth ₹25 crore (approx) along with digital evidence and other incriminating evidence. The total value of seizure and attachment stands at about ₹50 crore.

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Shares of Hero MotoCorp fell 1.04% at ₹3,134.45 while writing the copy at 12:22 pm on Friday.

Separately, the Delhi High Court stayed the criminal proceedings against Hero MotoCorp, its chairman, and officials in a case of alleged forgery on Thursday.

The trial court had directed the registration of an FIR against them on a complaint alleging that Hero MotoCorp manufactured fake bills worth ₹5.9 crore and obtained tax credit of over ₹55 lakh.

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Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said the stay on the operation of the FIR as well as the trial court order will remain in force till December 6. The court has asked the parties to explore the possibility of a settlement.

The criminal case was registered on October 5, 2023, on a complaint by Roop Darshan Pandey, the promoter of Brains Logistics Pvt Ltd following the trial court’s order. The complainant named MotoCorp Limited along with its three functionaries -- principal employer Pawan Munjal, officials Vikram Sitaram Kasbekar, and Hari Prakash Gupta -- and an auditor.

The complainant has alleged that Hero Motocorp, in collusion with Munjal and Kasbekar, manufactured fake month-wise bills totalling ₹5,94,52,525 for 2009 and 2010 and created false debit balance in its books of accounts against Brains Logistics.