The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 1 raided the residence of Hero MotoCorp chairman Pawan Munjal in a case of alleged money laundering, signalling a major escalation of investigation against the prominent businessman. The law enforcement agency conducted searches at his premises located in Delhi and neighbouring Gurugram, and registered a case against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), reported news agency PTI.
Earlier today, the country's largest two-wheeler automobile manufacturer informed the stock exchanges that ED had visited Munjal's residence and two of its offices. "Officials from the Enforcement Directorate today visited two of our offices in Delhi and Gurugram and the residence of our Executive Chairman Dr Pawan Munjal. We continue to extend all cooperation to the agency," said Hero Motocorp in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges.
The investigation stems from a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) complaint against a person, allegedly close to Munjal, who was investigated on charges of carrying undeclared foreign currency. In March last year, the Income Tax Department raided Munjal and his company Hero Motorcorp, as part of a tax evasion investigation.
The report of the ED action against the company triggered the worst stock fall of the company in over a year, dropping over three per cent during intraday trading. On Tuesday, shares of Hero MotoCorp settled 3.14 per cent lower at ₹3,103 apiece on the BSE.
Hero MotoCorp became the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer in 2001, in terms of unit volume sales in a calendar year, and has maintained the title for the past 20 consecutive years. The company has a presence across 40 countries spanning Asia, Africa, and South and Central America.
Other than being the Chairman and Director of Hero Motocorp, Pawan Munjal is also a part of the Board of Directors of Munjal Acme Packaging Systems Private Limited, Pan Mining Private Limited, Bahadur Chand Investments Private Limited, Hero InvestCorp Private Limited, Indian School of Business, Hero Future Energies Global Limited, and Rockman Industries Limited.
Pawan Munjal is the third child of Brijmohan Lall Munjal and Santosh Munjal. Dr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal is the founder of the Hero Group. After India gained Independence from British Rule in 1947, Munjal and his brothers set up a company in Ludhiana that provided people with basic transport (cycles). With time, he built a series of bonds and networks with hundreds of vendors, dealers and employees. Much like the Japanese keiretsu system, these networks are now the glue that holds the Hero Group together, according to the website of Hero MotoCorp.
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