The sources also said the initial probe found that OSF was put under the “prior reference category” by the Union home ministry in 2016, thereby “restricting” it from giving “unregulated” donations to NGOs in India
New Delhi, Bengaluru: The ED on Tuesday conducted multiple searches in Bengaluru as part of an alleged foreign exchange violation case against US billionaire George Soros-founded private funding agency OSF and its investment arm EDF.
Searches were conducted in eight premises of some of the beneficiaries of “Open Society Foundations” (OSF) and “Economic Development Fund” (EDF), including those linked to some international human rights bodies, and a company named Aspada Investments Private Limited under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the sources in the agency said.
The ED sources called Aspada Investments as the investment adviser or fund manager of Soros EDF (SEDF) in India and as a “wholly-owned subsidiary” of a Mauritius entity.
The SEDF is the “impact investment arm of the Open Society Foundations (OSF)”, the sources said.
The ongoing probe is related to an alleged foreign direct investment being sourced by the two Soros entities and the utilisation of these funds by certain beneficiaries in alleged contravention of FEMA guidelines.
The sources also said the initial probe found that OSF was put under the “prior reference category” by the Union home ministry in 2016, thereby “restricting” it from giving “unregulated” donations to NGOs in India.
In order to “bypass” this restriction, the Open Society Foundations had subsidiaries in India and brought in funds in the form of FDI and consultancy fees, and these funds have been used to fund activities of the NGOs which are a FEMA “contravention”, they said.
The agency, the sources said, is “examining” the end use of other FDI funds brought in by Soros EDF and OSF.
The ruling BJP has accused Soros, a Hungarian-American political activist, of acting against India’s interests. His utterances during the Adani-Hindenburg controversy also drew criticism from the party.
According to OSF, it is one of the world’s largest private funding agencies of groups supporting human rights, justice and accountable government. Its total expenditure for India during 2021 was US Dollar 4,06,000, according to official data.
