As part of a money laundering probe, the Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches at various locations connected to asset manager Franklin Templeton and its former and present executives in Mumbai and Chennai, informed sources.
They said that as part of its investigation into the business and its promoters under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the federal agency is seeking additional evidence.
Following its April 2020 decision to wound up six debt schemes with 25,000 crore in assets under management (AUM) from 3 lakh investors due to liquidity issues caused by the pandemic, the company received a show-cause notice from capital markets regulator SEBI in November 2020.
As a result of alleged irregularities in the management of the six debt schemes, the company was ultimately ordered to pay a fine of 5 crore, return 450 crore in fees for investment management and advisory services that were collected over a 22-month period, and refrain from launching new debt schemes.
After that, a FIR was filed by the Chennai police economic offences wing (EOW) to look into these alleged irregularities. This complaint led to the money laundering investigation by the Enforcement Directorate.
The heads of the asset manager, Vivek Kudva and Roopa Kudva, were prohibited by SEBI from accessing the securities market in 2021, from buying, selling, or engaging in other types of dealing in securities, directly or indirectly, or from being connected to the securities market in any way for a year.
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