Sports
ED grills Shah Rukh Khan over sale of IPL franchise shares
PTI
MUMBAI, NOVEMBER11
The Enforcement Directorate has questioned Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan in a matter of alleged irregularities in the sale of shares of Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd (KRSPL) to a Mauritius-based company.
“We recorded Khan’s statement on Tuesday in connection with the violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act,” ED sources said.
The case, dating back to 2008-09, pertains to the share sale of KRSPL, owned by Khan’s Red Chillies along with Juhi Chawla and her husband, to a Mauritius-based company owned by Chawla’s husband Jay Mehta.
ED is probing allegations that shares sold to the Jay Mehta-owned Sea Island Investments were undervalued by eight to nine times.
Khan had faced ED once in 2011 when he was questioned about alleged foreign exchange violation of around Rs 100 crore.
Read | Shah Rukh Khan summoned by ED for alleged forex violation
At the time of incorporation in 2008, Red Chillies had 9,900 shares of KRSPL. The valuation report, made by ED’s external agency last year, said that when the equity shares of KRSPL were issued to Sea Island Investments, the fair value per equity share of KRSPL should have been between Rs 70-86.
However, the shares were issued at a value of Rs 10 each. According to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the price of shares issued to persons residing outside India should not be lower than the price worked out under the guidelines set by stock market regulator SEBI in case of a listed company, or on the basis of fair valuation of shares by a chartered accountant as per guidelines of the erstwhile Controller of Capital Issues (CCI).
Officials said that Khan cooperated with them and has provided them with some documents related to the transfer of shares.