The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at locations associated with Vaibhav Gehlot, the son of Congress leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, as part of an investigation into a forex violation case.
The central agency’s action against Vaibhav, who is a member of the All India Congress Committee, was in connection with an ongoing investigation into a case against a Rajasthan-based hospitality group Triton Hotels and Resorts and its directors and promoters Shiv Shankar Sharma, Rattan Kant Sharma and others for the alleged violation of the FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act).
Ratan Kant Sharma was Vaibhav Gehlot’s business partner at a car rental service.
According to a complaint filed by two Jaipur residents in 2015, Vaibhav Gehlot allegedly routed illegal funds from a Mauritius-based firm named ‘Shivnar Holdings’—suspected to be a shell company—to the Triton Hotels.
It was alleged that the funds were diverted by buying 2,500 shares of the hotel. The shares were bought for Rs 39,900 each while the original share price was only Rs 100 for each share, the complaint stated.
The ED has also stated that their probe further revealed that Triton Group has been involved in hawala transactions having cross-border implications.
In October 2023, Vaibhav had appeared before the agency for questioning in connection with the case.
The probe agency had searched Triton Hotels and its promoters for three days in August last year at locations in Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai and Delhi. Unaccounted cash of Rs 1.2 crore was also seized by the anegct after these searches.
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