Aishwarya Rai summoned by ED in Panama papers leak case

The Panama Papers exposed the rich individuals across the world, including many Indians, who invested in offshore shell companies to evade taxes.

New Delhi: Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for a money laundering case in connection with the Panama Papers leak on Monday (December 20). The actress will appear before the agency today to record her statement or would request another date. Earlier, the 48 years-old was summoned twice but had requested the probing agency for more time.

According to ANI, a money-laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) has been registered by the ED in the matter.

The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents from the secret files of Mossack Fonseca, a law firm headquartered in tax haven Panama. The obtained papers reveal clients of the law firm and their transactions. Mossack Fonseca's work was to invest in shell companies to help individuals evade taxes. Information for more than 2,14,488 individuals was first leaked on April 3, 2016 by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. It included more than 300 Indians.

Apart from Aishwarya Rai, Amitabh Bachchan and Ajay Devgn's name has also propped up in the matter.

#mute