Panama Papers: Ajay Devgn owned offshore company; says it was legal

In what comes as the latest development in the Panama Papers leak, actor Ajay Devgn bought British Virgin Islands (BVI) company Marylebone Entertainment Limited in 2013 and remained its director for a little over a year, the Indian Express reported. The actor told the daily that all legal procedures were followed to set up the company.

The actor-turned-entrepreneur bought the entire stake in Marylebone Entertainment Limited on Oct. 31, 2013, from its original London-based shareholder Hassan N Sayani. He was appointed as the director of the company on the same day, but he resigned from the position on Dec. 15, 2014, according to the IE.

Devgn said the company was established for the acquisition, distribution and exploitation of the overseas rights of Hindi films. "This company was set up with RBI guidelines for overseas direct investment route. Proper disclosures have been made by my family in the tax returns as required by law," he told the newspaper.

Devgn holds "1,000 shares on behalf of M/s Nysa Yug Entertainment, a partnership firm between Mr Ajay Devgan and Mrs Kajol Devgan," actor's chartered accountant Anil Sekhri said.

"This company was floated by Nysa Yug Entertainment through the ODI route and all formalities with respect to the RBI were complied with. The shares held in Marylebone Entertainment Limited are reflected by M/s Nysa Yug Entertainment in its balance sheet as filed with the I-T Department," he added.

Devgn gave a written resolution ahead of his resignation, approving the appointment of EFG Trust Company Limited and EFG Nominees Limited as directors of Marylebone Entertainment. Initially, the registered agent of the company was Mossack Fonseca & Co. (BVI) Ltd, but it was changed to Nerine Trust Company (BVI) Ltd. when Devgn resigned.

This revelation was part of the "leaked" documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. Some excerpts from the documents were published by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung in collaboration with International Consortium of Investigative Journalists after about eight months of investigation, according to the IE.

A total of 500 Indians, including actors Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, were named in the Panama Papers exposé. 

Mossack Fonseca had denied the reports that the documents were leaked from the firm and said these were "hacked by servers abroad."