Thread by @SaketGokhale

Important:

Founders of fake news rag @OpIndia_com are gonna go to jail for illegal foreign funding.

@rahulroushan & @UnSubtleDesi are taking illegal foreign funding prohibited under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.

This needs a CBI/ED probe.

Thread 👇

OpIndia is owned by a company called Aadhyaasi Media And Content Services Pvt. Ltd.

It's not an NGO but a for-profit pvt. ltd. company.

Neither @rahulroushan nor @UnSubtleDesi are directors in this company.

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On their website, however, OpIndia is soliciting "donations" from people which shockingly includes foreign donors paying in international currencies.

A for-profit company is NOT ALLOWED to seek donations. Only a registered non-profit/NGO with FCRA clearance can.

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Under RBI rules, any foreign funding to a pvt. ltd. company is counted as FDI. Which means that every "foreign donor" to OpIndia must get equity in the company & tax needs to be paid on that.

However, if you click on OpIndia's PayPal link, it says "voluntary payment"

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The email address associated with the PayPal account is, ironically, that of @rahulroushan who neither owns a stake in OpIndia's holding company nor is a director in the firm.

These "foreign contributions" are not reported on OpIndia's financial filings to the govt.

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OpIndia's primary investor is a shady "investment firm" called Kaut Concepts which has bought convertible debentures issued by Aadhyaasi Media & Content Services Pvt. Ltd.

Kaut Concepts is owned by some small-time real estate guy who is also a director in OpIndia.

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OpIndia, a pvt. co., is taking illegal foreign funding in the name of "donations" which is not allowed to by law.

It's flouting RBI norms & committing financial fraud.

These "foreign donations" are allegedly ending up in the pocket of @rahulroushan & @UnSubtleDesi

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I'll be flagging this to the Home Ministry & the RBI because this needs a probe by the CBI & ED.

What are these illegal foreign funds being used for? Is this money going to @BJP4India IT Cell? Or is it being diverted for other shady business?

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OpIndia is taking illegal foreign funds which are going unreported in their financial statements. They aren't paying tax on it.

Where is this illegal money going?

For violating FEMA rules, OpIndia needs to be probed, shut down, & its founders need to go to jail.

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