ED again summons son of EC Ashok Lavasa in Fema case

Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa’s son Abir and a firm linked to him have come on the radar of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged violations of forex regulations, officials said on Tuesday. They said the agency has filed a case under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to probe Abir Lavasa and about Rs 7.25 crore funds raised early this year by a firm — Nourish Organic Foods Pvt Ltd — linked to him.

The purpose of the probe is to ascertain if the FEMA law was contravened in bringing these funds from a Mauritius-based company identified as Saama Capital, officials said. Abir Lavasa is stated to be the Director of Nourish Organic Foods Pvt Ltd. According to officials, the fund infusion into Abir Lavasa’s company is under probe and the agency recently questioned him about these transactions.

Abir Lavasa has assured full cooperation into the probe, they said, adding that some more people have been summoned to take the probe forward. The trouble for Ashok Lavasa’s family began a few months back when his wife, Novel Singhal Lavasa, came under the scanner of the Income Tax Department on charges of alleged tax evasion. She was issued a notice by the tax department to explain certain details in her I-T Returns (ITR) with regard to holding directorship in about 10 companies, sources had said.