Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai summoned in Panama Papers case

New Delhi: Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Panama Papers leak case.

According to the Indian Express, the probe agency has reportedly registered a money laundry case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in the matter. The report said that the ED officials have already prepared a list of questions to interrogate the actor over allegations of stashing wealth abroad. However, she has sought more time to appear before the agency.

Sources said Rai has been summoned to appear before the Investigating Officer in Delhi. It was not confirmed, however, when she had been asked to appear, or what charges she was facing.

Rai was one of several prominent personalities named in The Indian Express-ICIJ 2016 Panama Papers expose. The summons from the ED is the first indication that agencies are actively pursuing the case against the Bachchans who, records indicate, floated an offshore entity, Amic Partners Limited, in the British Virgin Islands in 2005.

The papers regarding the Bachchans were part of records maintained by Mossack Fonseca (MF), a Panamanian firm that helped set up offshore entities. These showed that for at least three years, Rai and her family were part of Amic Partners.

The Indian Express accessed MF documents which showed that Rai, her father Kotedadi Ramana Rai Krishna Rai, mother Vrinda Krishna Raj Rai, and brother Aditya Rai were appointed on May 14, 2005, as directors of Amic Partners – with an initial authorised capital of $50,000.