BENGALURU, INDIA / MENA Newswire / – Indian investigators said one of the country’s largest gold exporters paid its managing director about Rs17,000 a month, roughly $180, despite reporting consolidated revenue of about Rs7.7 lakh crore. The Directorate of Enforcement said it found the pay detail during searches at nine premises in Bengaluru and Mumbai. The searches began on June 23 under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. The agency said the probe covers suspected foreign exchange violations involving Rajesh Exports Ltd. and connected persons.
Investigators said the company failed to produce records for foreign transactions. Those records covered imports, exports, overseas investments and settlements of trade receivables and payables. The agency also cited missing support for a claimed Rs1,035 crore investment in African mines. It said the absence of records made transaction checks difficult. The company’s chief financial officer has not received salary since 2020, according to the agency’s statement.
The pay findings formed part of a wider list of issues flagged by investigators. The agency said the company engaged in opaque netting of foreign trade receivables against payables worth around Rs3,000 crore. It linked those set-offs to foreign parties based in the UAE and other overseas jurisdictions. Investigators also reported a stock gap of about 40% between factory registers and the physical stock found during verification.
Foreign transaction records under scrutiny
The latest findings add to a broader regulatory review of the gold exporter’s accounts and market disclosures. The Securities and Exchange Board of India issued an interim order on June 3 in the same matter. The regulator said the company may have misrepresented about Rs15.15 trillion of revenue between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2025. The order focused on consolidated revenue attributed to overseas subsidiaries, including Swiss refiner Valcambi SA.
The company has contested the regulator’s observations in exchange filings and said its declared revenue was correct. It said the order remained interim and no final adverse conclusion had been reached. The company also said it was submitting explanations and documents to address the concerns. The agency’s latest statement did not include a response from the company to the searches. Officials said they seized documents and digital evidence during the operation.
Market disclosure questions widen
Investigators also flagged suspicious block trades in the company’s shares. They said certain traders appeared in leaks released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The agency said those links indicated possible undisclosed offshore connections now under examination. It also alleged that more than Rs600 crore moved out of India through share manipulation using NRI benamidars. The statement did not name the individuals cited in that part of the probe.
The case places a major Indian bullion and jewellery business under close review across foreign exchange, accounting and market disclosure rules. The official record now includes claims over missing transaction documents, disputed revenue treatment, stock differences and senior pay practices. Investigators said further examination continues after the Bengaluru and Mumbai searches. The company remains subject to the interim market order and the foreign exchange investigation, both centered on disclosed accounts and related records.
