Following the ED raids, actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran received a notice from the Income Tax Department.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided the premises of a chit fund company owned by film producer Gokulam Gopalan and seized Rs 1.5 crore in cash amid allegations of foreign exchange law violations. Gopalan is a producer of the Malayalam movie "L2: Empuraan".
Following the ED raids, actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran received a notice from the Income Tax Department.
In a statement , the ED said that the searches that were launched on Friday ended on Saturday.
On Friday, the ED search was initiated under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) at one location in Kozhikode, Kerala, and two locations in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, at the residential and business premises of Sree Gokulam Chits and Finance Co. Pvt. Ltd.
Citing ED officials PTI reported that the searches led to the seizure of Rs 1.50 crore in cash and "incriminating" documents in "violation" of FEMA.
The ED raid comes in the backdrop of the recent controversy over "L2: Empuraan", the second instalment of the "Lucifer" trilogy.
The ED said it gathered "specific" intelligence that Sree Gokulam Chits and Finance Co. Pvt. Ltd., without due permission from the competent authority, was collecting subscription to chit funds from persons residing outside India.
"This led to the violation of Regulation 4(b) of Foreign Exchange Management (Permissible Capital Account Transactions) Regulations, 2000 read with circular No. 107 dated June 11, 2015, issued by RBI," the agency claimed, as quoted by PTI.
No immediate response has been issued from Gokulam Gopalan or his company regarding the ED allegation.
Reports suggest that the company collected Rs 3,71.80 crore in cash from persons residing outside India and Rs 220.74 crore through cheques from the same category of people.
The Income Tax Department issued a notice to actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran.
Income tax officials said that the notice was sent to Prithviraj via email on March 29. This notice is automatically sent when discrepancies or questions arise during regular income tax assessment.
A report published by Hindustan Times suggests that the IT department is investigating three films in which Prithviraj acted and co-produced in 2022: Jana Gana Mana, Gold, and Kadavu. Despite playing lead roles, Prithviraj reportedly did not claim any remuneration for acting and received payments only as a co-producer.
Now the Income Tax Department is seeking clarification on his income structure under the standard verification process.
'L2: Empuraan', the second part of the Lucifer movie, a trilogy planned by the Prithviraj-Mohanlal team, has become a topic of hot debate over its critique of right-wing politics and the covert mention of the Gujarat riots.
Mohanlal recently expressed regret over the raging row and assured that the controversial portions would be removed from the movie.