According to Pandora document records investigated by the source, Gautam Hari Singhania, chairman and managing director of Raymond Limited, acquired two companies in the British Virgin Islands in 2008.
Although Singhania was designated as the beneficial owner of one of the companies, he was listed as a shareholder of the other company.
Deras Worldwide Corporation was established in July 2008 and was acquired by Gautam Singhania in the same month. Documents from Trident Trust, a service provider based in the British Virgin Islands, show that he is the beneficial owner of the Mumbai address. The purpose of the acquisition is to “open an account with UBS in Zurich”, with Roland Gysel of UBS AG in Geneva, Switzerland as its asset manager.
Trident Trust, a service provider for Deras Worldwide, appointed three directors as members of the company’s board of directors in July 2008. Trident Corporate Services invoiced Deras Worldwide for $1,700 on July 10, 2008. A series of detailed questions sent to the company did not receive a response.
The second company associated with Singhania is Lyndonville Holdings Limited. The company was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands through Alcogal, another global corporate service provider, on January 2, 2008, listing Gautam Singhania with his father Vijaypat Singhania and mother Asha Singhania as one of its shareholders. However, the company was liquidated in 2016.
Raymond Group is a diversified group with most commercial interests in the textile and apparel sector, led by Gautam Hari Singhania. Its flagship company Raymond Ltd is a listed company with a market value of 2,997 crore rupees as of Friday. In the year ending March 2021, the company announced net sales of 34.46 billion rupees and a loss of 3.03 billion rupees. Last year, it had net sales of Rs 6,482 crore and profit of Rs 201.7 crore.
News Source: The Indian Express
