A special court in Bangalore on Saturday Fugitive Economic Criminals Act-2018 Based on a petition filed by the ED against Ramachandran Viswanathan, CEO of US-based satellite communications company Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd, to declare him a fugitive economic offender (FEO).
The Special Court dismissed the notice on the petition filed by the ED “under Section 4 r/w Sections 10 and 12 of the Fugitive Economic Criminals Act 2018” as “a charge under Section 10 of the Fugitive.” issued to Ramachandran Vishwanathan. Economic Criminals Act-2018”.
Pursuant to the process outlined by the ED for issuing notices under the Fugitive Economic Criminals Act-2018, an officer not below the rank of Deputy Director of the ED may seek direction from a special court to declare an individual a FEO. and the notification looks like this: Transferred to the Central Authority notified by the Central Government pursuant to Section 10 (4) of the FEO Act-2018.
MHA officials are designated as the central agency for forwarding notices to the United States on behalf of the ED under the Mutual Assistance Treaty.
The ED sought to declare Viswanathan, founder and CEO of Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd, a Bengaluru start-up that was liquidated by the National Company Law Tribunal in May 2021. Others who allegedly diverted 85% of the total Rs. .
By declaring an individual as an FEO, the ED can seek confiscation of property in India and abroad identified as criminal proceeds.
Viswanathan is a US satellite communications entrepreneur and currently president of Omnispace LLC, a US satellite communications start-up. Omnispace LLC is putting together a satellite constellation to power his 5G from space. In particular, terrestrial mobile networks do not work to provide connectivity to remote locations.
Devas Multimedia founder Viswanathan is one of ten individuals and entities accused of money laundering by the ED in an indictment filed in July 2018.
Others named in the PMLA lawsuit are Devas Multimedia director MG Chandrashekar, Devas CTOs Desaraju Venugopal and Nataraj Dakshinamurthy, financial director Ranganathan Mohan, three Devas subsidiaries and ISRO’s Antrix Corp KR Sridharamurthy. Former Executive Director.
Others accused of money laundering have responded to subpoenas issued by the Special Court to initiate trials in the ED’s money laundering case, but Viswanathan, founder and CEO of Devas Multimedia, said: Did not respond.
The lawsuit against Devas Multimedia officials stemmed from a 2005 contract between the startup and ISRO’s Antrix Corp to use two ISRO communications satellites to send remote communications beyond the reach of traditional terrestrial communications networks. provide multimedia services to local mobile devices.
Under its satellite contract with Devas in 2005, ISRO signed an agreement to lease two communications satellites to Devas Multimedia for 12 years at a cost of Rs 167 million.
The startup will provide video/audio services to Indian mobile platforms using Space Band or S-Band Spectrum Transponders on ISRO’s GSAT 6 and 6A satellites built by the Space Agency at a cost of Rs 766 crore was to do
Devas Multimedia-Antrix Corp’s contract was voided by the UPA government in February 2011 following allegations that it was a “lovers’ deal” behind the 2G scam. After the NDA government came to power in 2014, the CBI and ED launched a full-scale investigation into his 2005 satellite deal.
The ED and CBI have filed indictments alleging corruption and money laundering in this matter.
In 2016, the CBI filed indictments for corruption charges against Devas and Antrix and its executives, including former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair.
After the 2005 transaction was cancelled, Devas Multimedia and its foreign investors contacted the International Court of Arbitration to seek compensation for the losses they suffered. Devas and its foreign investors have been awarded compensation by three arbitration courts regarding the failed transaction.
The largest compensation award was the September 14, 2015 ICC Court decision, which was confirmed by the U.S. Federal Court on October 27, 2020 and exceeded $1.2 billion. Ninth Circuit.
Based on the CBI and ED lawsuits against Devas Multimedia, the National Corporate Law Court of India ordered the liquidation of Devas in May 2021 on charges that the company was created in a fraudulent manner. The order was upheld by the Supreme Court of India in January this year.
Furthermore, on August 29 of this year, the Delhi High Court reversed the ICC Arbitration Court’s award of $1.2 billion in compensation to Devas and its investors, stating: Public Policy in India”.
Devas Multimedia and its investors, including German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom, have been involved in protracted courts around the world over the Indian government’s 2011 decision to void the 2005 satellite contract between Devas and ISRO’s Antrix. involved in the struggle.
