New Delhi/Bengaluru, Mar 18 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate conducted searches in Bengaluru on Tuesday as part of an alleged foreign exchange violation case against US billionaire George Soros-founded 'private funding agency' OSF and its investment arm EDF, official sources said.

Eight premises of some of the beneficiaries of Open Society Foundations (OSF) and Economic Development Fund (EDF), including those linked to some international human rights bodies, and a company named Aspada Investments Pvt. Ltd. were searched under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the sources said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) sources called Aspada Investments as the investment adviser or fund manager of Soros EDF (SEDF) in India and as a "wholly-owned subsidiary" of a Mauritius entity.

The SEDF is the "impact investment arm of the Open Society Foundations (OSF)", the sources said.

The investigation pertains to alleged foreign direct investment (FDI) being sourced by the two Soros entities and the utilisation of these funds by certain beneficiaries in alleged contravention of FEMA guidelines.

The ED sources said the initial probe found that OSF was put under the "prior reference category" by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in 2016, thereby "restricting" it from giving "unregulated" donations to NGOs in India.

In order to "bypass" this restriction, 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", they said.

The agency, the sources said, is "examining" the end use of other FDI funds brought in by Soros EDF and OSF.

A response to an email sent by PTI to OSF is awaited.

The ruling BJP has accused Soros, a Hungarian-American political activist, of acting against India's interests. His utterances during the Adani-Hindenburg controversy also drew criticism from the party.

According to OSF, it is one of the world's largest private funding agencies of groups supporting human rights, justice and accountable government. Its total expenditure for India during 2021 was USD 4,06,000, according to official data.

The OSF began working in India in 1999, offering scholarships and fellowships to students to pursue studies and research at Indian institutes.

"In 2014, we launched an India-specific grant-making programme, supporting local organisations that work in three areas: extending access to medicine; promoting justice system reforms; and strengthening and establishing rights, public services, and community living for people with psychosocial disabilities," according to an OSF document. PTI NES KSS KSS

Foreign exchange compliance probe into alleged routing of FDI through intermediaries to fund NGOs prompts end use investigation. The Enforcement Directorate searched Bengaluru premises investigating alleged FEMA violations in which funds attributed to a private funding agency and its impact investment arm were brought into India through subsidiaries and consultancy fees, allegedly functioning as FDI and then used to fund NGOs contrary to administrative restrictions; the probe concentrates on intermediaries described as subsidiaries and the end use of those FDI flows.