Kerala businessman and film producer Gokulam Gopalan appeared at the Kochi office of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Monday (April 7, 2025) as part of the agency’s probe into the alleged violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 involving his chit fund company.
Mr. Gopalan, who produced the controversial movie L2: Empuraan starring Mohanlal, appeared at the office around 12.40 p.m. He told mediapersons that he “lacked any idea” about why he was summoned before the agency.
He also rejected the ED’s claim that it had seized ₹1.5 crore in cash in violation of the FEMA following searches held at his residential and office premises recently.
The Kochi zonal office of the agency had issued a release on Saturday (April 5, 2025) stating that searches were held on April 4 and 5 at one location in Kozhikode, Kerala, and at two locations in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, owned by Sree Gokulam Chits and Finance Co Private Ltd.
The release said the investigation was initiated based on the specific intelligence gathered that the company, “without due permission from the competent authority”, was collecting subscriptions to chit funds from people residing outside India. Also, the subscription amounts from them were being collected in cash in violation of the regulations framed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
“This led to the violation of the Regulation 4(b) of Foreign Exchange Management (Permissible Capital Account Transactions) Regulations, 2000 r/w Circular No. 107 dated June 11, 2015 issued by RBI,” the agency claimed.
Published – April 07, 2025 01:44 pm IST
