Antrix is the commercial arm of ISRO. (Representational Image)
Assets worth over Rs 79 crore, belonging to Devas Multimedia Private Limited, has been attached by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with its money laundering probe in the Antrix-Devas deal.
The agency had taken over the matter after a case was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI alleged that Devas had illegally made an agreement with ISRO and its commercial arm Antrix Corporation Limited and collected foreign investments through criminal conspiracy.
In January 2005, Devas falsely claimed that it had the ownership and intellectual property rights to use the crucial S-Band wavelength, which is kept for strategic interests of the country.
Devas, however, claimed it could use the spectrum for delivering multi-media services by leasing 90 per cent transponders on two satellites GSAT-6 and GSAT-6A and entered into an agreement with ISRO/ACL, the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement.
"Few employees of ISRO/ACL also conspired with Devas for entering into the agreement," the statement by the ED said.
On basis of the agreement, Devas raised foreign investment of Rs 579.07 crore and part of the funds were moved to an American subsidiary.
An amount of Rs 180.77 crore was transferred to the US subsidiary in guise of providing business support services. A major portion of another Rs 230.11 crore, allegedly spent as legal fee, was transferred to the US, the statement read.
The agency said the agreement was "illegal" as Devas didn't have any technology or ownership of intellectual property rights to deliver multimedia services. Its main purpose was to raise foreign investments, the agency added.
Last year, the agency had issued a Rs 1,200-crore showcause notice under the Foreign Exchange Management Act in the same deal case.