by India Today World DeskBritain’s opposition Labor Party has called for a freeze on funds donated by an Indian rice tycoon to the governing Conservative Party as he is under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over allegations of fraud and money laundering.
Karan Channa, head of global rice brand Amira, is being investigated over claims that hundreds of millions of pounds of bank loans were illegally diverted to shell entities. News agency PTI reported that Chanana has not responded to the claims.
Channa is a leading Tory donor, since September 2019 through his UK company, Amira G. Has given over ₹220,000 to the party through Foods. The ED is probing claims that bank loans were illegally diverted to shell entities.
Margaret Hodge, a senior Labor MP and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Taxes, told The Guardian: “The Tories have been too reliant on major donors and not doing proper scrutiny. They should now Should be forced to do so by the new law,”
The move by Britain’s Labor Party comes after the ED carried out searches at 21 locations in India on May 2 involving Chanana, Indian company Amira Pure Foods and other parties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Charges are yet to be filed in the case as the ED says further interrogation is on.
“Investigation has revealed that the accused entities in connivance with each other as well as with other related/unrelated entities have illegally diverted loans sanctioned by consortium of banks by transferring loan funds to the accounts of various shell entities in the garb of genuine business Funds have been diverted for illegal transactions,” an ED statement said.
“It was also known that Karan A Channa had donated to a political party [the] United Kingdom since 2019 whereas the accused entity itself had defaulted in repaying the loan.
Amira Nature Foods was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2012, specializing in Indian basmati rice grown in the foothills of the Himalayas. Chanana, its chairman and chief executive, operated the business from its headquarters in the Gold Tower in Dubai, while its official company registration was in the British Virgin Islands.
Its subsidiaries include Amira Pure Foods in India, which is now under investigation, and Amira Zee Foods in the UK, according to corporate filings.
The probe in India follows the filing of a report by a consortium of banks headed by Canara Bank with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in November 2020 alleging bank fraud.
(With inputs from PTI)