India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches at eight locations in Bengaluru as part of an investigation into foreign exchange violations involving the Open Society Foundations (OSF)—founded by American billionaire George Soros—and its impact investment arm, the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF).
Sources told Indian media the searches were “carried out under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and involve the OSF along with various international human rights organizations,” The Economic Times reported.
The investigation centers on allegations that OSF procured foreign direct investment (FDI) and that some beneficiaries misappropriated these funds in violation of FEMA guidelines.
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“Our teams carried out raids at eight locations on Tuesday in Bengaluru to investigate contraventions in foreign direct investment rules by SEDF and OSF in investments in various entities/individuals in India and subsequent utilization of those funds,” said one unnamed officer, the Hindustan Times added.
According to the reports, Soros-backed OSF sent nearly $3 billion to more than a dozen entities throughout India.
The unnamed officer added that a “preliminary investigation has revealed 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.”
“However, in order to bypass this restriction, OSF set up 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”, the officer added.
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The Times reported that OSF began operating in India, the world’s largest democracy, in 1999, but that the Soros-founded group does not have any actual offices in the country.
In November, the then-Biden-controlled Federal Communications Commission (FCC) expedited its decision to approve a deal allowing Democrat megadonor Soros to acquire a major stake in over 200 radio stations.
Fox News reported at the time that the move has prompted an investigation by the House Oversight Committee, which is concerned about potential “politicization” and its impact on the 2024 presidential election.
The FCC’s approval of Soros’ acquisition of more than 200 Audacy radio stations drew criticism from a Republican commissioner who expressed objections to the decision, as well as other GOP members of Congress who see the move as blatantly partisan.
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The FCC “adopted an order to approve Soros’ purchase of more than 200 radio stations in 40 markets just weeks before the presidential election,” which would allow him to reach up to 165 million Americans, Fox noted.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.) have accused the FCC of expediting its review of broadcast licenses by bypassing standard procedures.
Audacy Inc. owns over 200 radio stations. Soros sought to acquire $415 million in debt in a Chapter 11 reorganization of the company, Fox reported.
In late February, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr provided an update on the agency’s investigation into Soros and his influence over local radio stations during a meeting with Republican lawmakers. Carr met with members of the Republican Study Committee, a group of 175 House Republicans, at their annual closed-door lunch.
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A source told Fox News that Carr was set to brief lawmakers on the quick purchase of the radio stations. Carr also discussed broader strategies to counter left-wing media, the report said.
The focus of the GOP congressional probe regarding the purchase focused on Soros Fund Management’s stake in the sale. The investment firm holds a substantial share of foreign ownership, which triggered concerns that content broadcast by the stations could allow foreign governments to exert undue influence on the American public.
“The FCC is not following its normal process for reviewing a transaction,” Carr told lawmakers last fall regarding the sale.
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“We have established over a number of years one way in which you can get approval from the FCC when you have an excess of 25 percent foreign ownership, which this transaction does,” Carr added. “It seems to me that the FCC is poised to create, for the first time, an entirely new shortcut.”
