Published Jun 24, 2026 | 11:31 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 24, 2026 | 11:31 PM
Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Synopsis: The suspected violations included missing overseas transaction records, around ₹3,000 crore in opaque trade set-offs, a 40 per cent stock mismatch and alleged share manipulations using offshore benamidars.
Officials of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) simultaneously searched nine locations linked to Rajesh Exports Limited (REL) in Bengaluru and Mumbai in connection with suspected violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the central agency said on Wednesday, 24 June.
The ED said in a statement that the suspected violations included missing overseas transaction records, around ₹3,000 crore in opaque trade set-offs, a 40 per cent stock mismatch and alleged share manipulations using offshore benamidars.
The search on 23 June was part of an ongoing investigation into Rajesh Exports, a Bengaluru-based multinational gold retailer, and connected persons for suspected FEMA violations, it stated.
“REL failed to produce documentation in respect of its foreign transactions, including its imports, exports, overseas investments and the settlement of foreign trade receivables and payments,” the ED said, adding that it made the verification of the genuineness of such transactions “almost impossible”.
It further stated that the company engaged in “setting off of trade payables and trade receivables from suspicious foreign parties in the UAE and other overseas jurisdictions”.
The ED also alleged that the firm’s key business indicators showed significant departures from normal commercial practices. The remuneration of senior management was “unusually low compared to the scale of the company’s operations”.
It pointed out that the Chief Financial Officer had not received any salary since 2020, while the Managing Director was paid only about ₹17,000 per month, despite the company reporting a consolidated revenue of approximately ₹7.7 lakh crore.
The ED also said that its probe revealed suspicious block trades in the scrip of REL executed by certain individuals, whose names have figured in the leaks released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The ED suspected that it indicated possible undisclosed offshore links.
The searches yielded several “incriminating documents and digital evidence”.
