On 3rd December (Wednesday), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at premises linked with Vaibhav Gehlot as part of an ongoing investigation into a forex violation case. He is a member of the All India Congress Committee and son of Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
The ED action on premises linked with Vaibhav Gehlot is related to an ongoing investigation against a Rajasthan-based hospitality group Triton Hotels and Resorts and its directors and promoters Shiv Shankar Sharma, Rattan Kant Sharma, and others. The case pertains to the alleged violation of the FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act).
Notably, a complaint was filed by two Jaipur residents in 2015. According to the complaint, Vaibhav Gehlot allegedly used a shell company to illegally fund Triton Hotels. It is alleged that he used a Mauritius-based firm named ‘Shivnar Holdings’ which is suspected to be a shell company to route funds to the Triton Hotels.
As per the allegations, around 2,500 shares of the hotel were brought at a higher share price to divert funds into the hotel’s account. The complaint stated that the shares were bought for Rs 39,900 each while the original share price was only Rs 100 for each share.
According to the ED, their probe also revealed that Triton Group had been involved in hawala transactions having cross-border implications.
Meanwhile, earlier in October 2023, ED had issued a summon and asked Vaibhav Gehlot to appear before the investigating officer of the case, at its headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road, under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Subsequently, he visited the agency’s office in Delhi for questioning in connection with the case.
The ED summons was also linked to the agency’s raids conducted today against Rajasthan-based hospitality group Triton Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd., Vardha Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. and its directors and promoters Shiv Shankar Sharma, Rattan Kant Sharma and others.
In August last year, the probe agency had conducted searches at Triton Hotels and its promoters for three days. The raids were carried out at locations in Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, and Delhi. During these searches, the agency seized unaccounted cash of Rs 1.2 crore.
