The ED searched under the guidelines of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), seizing a number of damaging paper records and digital information.
The three locations of Byju Raveendran, the founder and CEO of “Think and Learn Private Ltd,” which operates the edtech platform known as BYJU’s, were searched on Saturday by the Enforcement Directorate.
The investigation agency searched under the guidelines of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), seizing a number of relevant paper records and digital information.
The investigation agency claims that between 2011 and 2023, the corporation got FDI worth 28,000 crore. Overseas direct investment funds of about 9,754 crore were transferred within the same time period to various foreign countries.
According to the ED, Think & Learn Private Limited had budgeted about 944 crore for marketing and advertising costs, including money sent to foreign jurisdictions. However, since the fiscal year 2020–21, the company has not prepared its financial statements and has not had the accounts audited.
As a result, the agency noted, the accuracy of the numbers provided by the corporation is being double-checked with the banks.
The investigation into the platform was started as a result of many complaints from different private individuals. Byju Raveendran received numerous summonses during an inquiry by the ED, but he always acted evasively and never showed up.
A spokeswoman for BYJU’s legal team responded to the searches by saying, “The recent visit by officials from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Bangalore was related to a routine inquiry under FEMA.”
“We have cooperated fully with the authorities and given them all the information they have asked for. We are devoted to upholding the highest standards of compliance and ethics and have the utmost faith in the reliability of our operations. The statement continued, “We are hopeful that this issue will be resolved in a fast and satisfactory manner and we will continue to work closely with the authorities to ensure they have all the information they require.
“We want to emphasise that at BYJU’S, things are running as usual. We are dedicated to providing our consumers in India and around the world with high-quality educational products and services, the spokesperson continued.
