ED questions Niranjan Hiranandani in FEMA probe

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate has questioned Niranjan Hiranandani, the promoter of prominent Mumbai-based realty company Hiranandani Group, in a foreign exchange violation case, official sources said Monday.

Niranjan Hiranandani and his son Darshan Hiranandani were asked to join the investigation by the central agency at its office here as part of a probe being conducted under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Darshan Hiranandani has been living in Dubai for the past several years.

About four premises of the group in and around Mumbai were searched by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last month.

Apart from some foreign transactions, the agency is stated to be probing into the beneficiaries of a British Virgin Islands-based trust allegedly linked to the Hiranandani Group's promoters.

The group has said it will co-operate with the ED in this FEMA investigation.

Official sources said this ED probe is not linked to another FEMA investigation being conducted against TMC leader Mahua Moitra, who was recently expelled as a Lok Sabha MP.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had accused Moitra of asking questions in the Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the behest of Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for gifts.

Moitra has denied any wrongdoing and claimed she was being targeted as she had raised questions on the deals of the Adani Group.