ED Raids George Soros's Open Society Foundation Offices In Bengaluru Over Alleged FEMA Violations In NGO Funding

Several squads from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are carrying out investigations at eight sites, involving the offices of Open Society Foundations (OSF), a group supported by US billionaire George Soros in Bengaluru.

Notably, OSF was put under the “Prior Reference Category” by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2016. This restricts the organisation from giving unregulated donations to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in India.

The ED is investigating violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) as the agency alleges, “The OSF had subsidiaries in India and brought in funds in the form of FDI and consultancy fees and these funds have been used to fund activities of the NGOs, which is a FEMA contravention."

The Enforcement Directorate is also investigating the final application of Foreign Direct Investment funds introduced by the Soros Economic Development Fund (EDF), Indian Express reported.

Notably, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged opposition Congress's links to Soros-backed organisations in the past and claimed that its attacks on the Adani group are Soros-motivated.

In a speech given prior to the Munich Security Conference in February 2023, Soros made mention of Gautam Adani, an industrialist, and the subsequent decline in stock value for Adani Group companies following the release of the Hindenburg Research report.

Soros stated that despite Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi not being a "democrat," the situation concerning Adani could “open the door to a democratic revival” in India.

In his 40-minute speech, he referred to India following a discussion about open and closed societies.