ED serves notices to Salman and Co

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sent show-cause notices to film stars Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Govinda and Aishwarya Rai, and a few others regarding alleged foreign exchange violations.
In a separate case, Salman Khan is suspected of having made earnings up to $70,000 for which he has not been able to give satisfactory explanation, ED sources told TNN.The agency suspects these actors concealed their actual income in India by claiming that it was earned by way of stage shows abroad.
The sources said that the shows were planned months in advance and the signing amount decided according to the prevailing rates. However, the actual payments made after the shows were much higher than the signing amount. The I-T department grants hundred per cent rebate on forex earnings as part of the government’s policy to increase forex reserves.
Sources said that the actors were interrogated over the past few months and asked to submit details of their transactions. Some defaulters had declared incomes ranging up to one lakh dollars.
In July last year, the agency had questioned Salman’s brother Sohail Khan, who, as the partner of GS Entertainment, had organised the film shows abroad which were attended by Salman, Shah Rukh and others.
Salman Khan’s alleged concealment of about $70,000 came to light when the ED took up investigations following an income-tax raid on his residence in September 2000. The I-T department had raided offices and houses of several film stars and their secretaries and accountants and recovered unaccounted money amounting to Rs 10 crore.
I-T sleuths had then recovered certain documents related to Salman’s income earned abroad. He, however, told the investigators that his secretary and father, Salim Khan, handled his finances and hence they would be able to explain the transaction. Both of them were questioned but the agency did not get satisfactory explanation about the earnings.