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Goa to expand FEMA probe

Prakash Kamat

PANAJI: Even as the Enforcement Directorate is probing 73 cases of prima facie violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in property deals by foreigners in Goa during the last three years, the Goa Government has now decided to expand its probe to investigate more such cases beyond three years up to 1999 when FEMA became operational.

These cases with prima facie proof of violations have been confirmed by the Foreign Registration Office (FRO), Anupam Kishore, Jt. Secretary, Debt Management, heading the State Government Committee, told The Hindu.

He disclosed that while the committee was probing 480 cases initially and forwarded 73 cases to the ED, 79 more cases with prima facie evidence of violations will soon be forwarded to the ED.

Realising the seriousness of the problem, the State Government has now asked the committee to probe cases beyond the three-year period and investigate more such cases dating back to the introduction of FEMA, Mr. Kishore said.

State Government sources said Chief Secretary J.P. Singh has sought a review of the work of the committee in the next 10 days after new Chief Minister Digambar Kamat sought to know the position of the probe.

Sources said that based on the prima facie report in each case, it was decided whether a case would be handed over to either the ED or the RBI or to the Registrar of Companies for further investigations. The FRO has been actively associated with the probe.

The issue of alleged violations of laws by foreigners in purchasing properties in the State was taken up seriously by the State Government after it was raised by various parties and citizens last year.

After a preliminary inquiry by the State Home Department, it was found that a majority of the cases of clandestine property deals by foreigners on tourist visa and without proper documents have taken place in the State’s tourist coastal belt. As many as 351 cases were found in the Bardez taluk of north Goa alone.

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Goa to expand FEMA probe

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