The CEO and co-founder of the controversial ed-tech startup Byju’s, Byju Raveendran, is likely to get a lookout circular (LOC), as asked by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to the Bureau of Immigration (BOI), reported The Economic Times. The central agency asked BOI earlier this month to issue a new LOC in an effort to prevent him from leaving the nation.
According to persons with knowledge about the development, the ED’s Bengaluru unit, which is looking into possible violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), recently concluded that Raveendran needed an LOC to prohibit him from leaving the nation.
The last three years have primarily been spent by Raveendran travelling back and forth between Delhi and Dubai. Those with insight into the situation asserted that he visited Bengaluru earlier this week. Raveendran was in Delhi last week for a work trip, based on the aforementioned sources who informed the news agency. Speaking to The Economic Times, Raveendran claimed he is in Dubai at the moment. He had earlier in the week departed for the emirate and stated that he “will be travelling to Singapore tomorrow”.
One of the individuals mentioned previously alleged that the decision to apply to the BOI for the LOC was made with the “interest of investors” in mind. Once the LOC is issued, even if Raveendran is abroad, he will not be permitted to leave the nation after he comes back, per a top government official. The person noted, “The LOC, once opened, will ensure that the interest of investors is safeguarded and the case is taken to its logical conclusion without any difficulty.”
Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Byju and Raveendran, was served with show-cause notices by the agency in November of last year about suspected FEMA violations totalling Rs 9,362.35 crore. In a statement at the time, the ED stated that inquiries had been conducted in response to many allegations about Byju’s foreign investment and its business practices.
The ED had highlighted, “The company was also stated to have made significant foreign remittances outside India and investments abroad which were allegedly in contravention of provisions of FEMA, 1999, and caused loss of revenue to the government of India.”
Over the course of April 27 and 28, of last year, the agency searched Byju’s facilities as well as Raveendran’s house. Documents relating to both domestic and foreign investments made by the company were seized.
The investigation team had pointed out that the company’s failure to recognise export revenue from sales outside of India and its tardy filing of documentation opposing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that it had received were the reasons for the purported infraction. It also mentioned the company’s failure to submit documentation for remittances routed outside of India.
CEO Byju Raveendran oversees Byju’s, which was formerly one of India’s most valuable start-ups due to a spike in demand for its online learning services during the Covid epidemic. However, in the past year, Byju’s worth has dropped by an estimated 90% from its peak of nearly $20 billion.
