As part of an ongoing investigation into a forex violation case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at premises connected with Vaibhav Gehlot on Wednesday, December 3rd. These searches take place as part of the inquiry. He is the son of Ashok Gehlot, who served as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan in the past, and he is a member of the All India Congress Committee.
The Enforcement Department (ED)’s action on Vaibhav Gehlot’s properties is related to an ongoing investigation into Triton Hotels and Resorts, a hospitality company with locations in Rajasthan, as well as its directors and promoters, including Shiv Shankar Sharma, Rattan Kant Sharma, and other people. The case is about the alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), which is another name for FEMA.
Particularly noteworthy is the fact that in 2015, two residents of Jaipur lodged a concern. According to the complaint, Vaibhav Gehlot fraudulently funded Triton Hotels by using a shell company. According to the allegations, he allegedly used a business called “Shivnar Holdings” that is domiciled in Mauritius and is suspected of being a shell corporation in order to transfer funds to the Triton Hotels.
The claims state that around 2,500 shares of the hotel were purchased at a higher share price in order to misappropriate funds and deposit them into the company’s account. In the complaint, it was said that the shares were purchased for a total of Rs 39,900, when the initial price of each share was only Rs 100.
According to the ED, their investigation also uncovered the fact that Triton Group had been involved in hawala transactions that had consequences for international trade.
In the meantime, earlier in the month of October 2023, the Enforcement Department (ED) issued a summons and requested that Vaibhav Gehlot appear before the officer who was investigating the case at the ED’s headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road. This was done in accordance with the provisions described in the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Following that, he went to the law enforcement agency’s office in Delhi to be questioned in relation to the case.
A further connection was made between the ED summons and the raids that were carried out today against the hospitality group Triton Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd., which is situated in Rajasthan, as well as Vardha Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., as well as its directors and founders, Shiv Shankar Sharma, Rattan Kant Sharma, and other individuals.
During the month of August of the previous year, the investigation agency spent three days searching for Triton Hotels and the promoters of those hotels. During the course of the searches, locations in Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, and Delhi were searched. The government agency was able to recover unaccounted cash totaling Rs 1.2 crore during these raids.
