Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL), a media conglomerate and publisher of Times of India newspaper is now under the scanner of the central agencies. According to a report by Indian Express, top managers of the company have been questioned several times by the Enforcement Directorate for suspected FEMA and PMLA violations. The agencies have also reportedly sent requests for corroborative information to offshore destinations.
According to Indian Express, Sivakumar Sundaram, Chairman, Executive Committee (CEC) of the company and Himanshu Agarwal, its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), have been called in for questioning at the ED headquarters in New Delhi.
There are several transactions by BCCL that seem to be under the scanner of the central investigating agencies. Among them, is a Rs 900 crores transaction with entities in the tax haven destination British Virgin Islands (BVI). The Times of India bosses are being questioned under the Foriegn Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). If this information by Indian Express holds true, it means that the ED suspects that the Times of India bosses (BCCL) have siphoned off money to British Virgin Island, which is a tax haven.
A perusal of the Balance Sheet of BCCL shows that it has a media company called MX Media Co Ltd which has been incorporated in BVI. From 2017 to 2019, the media company was shown as a subsidiary with the parent company holding 52.35% equity. It was later diluted to 40.36% with the company being changed to an ‘associate’ company. There are other “associate” companies of the Group listed in BCCL’s balance sheet, which have been incorporated in South Korea, China and Singapore.
According to the ROC data, Indian Express found that in 2019-2020, BCCL earned revenues upwards of Rs 9611 crores, however, their revenue fell in the COVID year 2020-2021 to Rs 5337 crores.
Who are the Directors of Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL), publishers of Times of India
There are 10 Directors of BCCL. One of them is Vineet Jain.
Samir Jain, who is listed as the Managing Director of BCCL is the brother of Vineet Jain, who is also a Managing Director. BCCL is largely a family-owned company by the Jain family.
