Deccan Chronicle

Hetero bosses in Paradise list

- ASIF YAR KHAN | DC

Y. JAGAN MOHAN REDDY, CHIEF OF YSR CONGRESS, ALSO FIGURES IN THE LIST

The names of two directors of Hetero Drugs, Attari Venkata Narasa Reddy and Partha Saradhi Reddy Bandi, have figured in the ‘Paradise Papers’ list of globally rich persons who are alleged to have evaded taxes and opened shell companies abroad to divert their funds. Both men have denied violating any laws. The mention of names on the list does not mean that such entities have generated tainted money or evaded taxes.

Y. Jagan Mohan Reddy, president of the YSR Congress, also figures in the list, allegedly for fresh financial links in a CBI case registered against him. A senior CBI official said that the Bureau knows nothing about the report and has not received it from anyone. This financial data was obtained and leaked by the German newspaper Süddeutsch­e Zeitung and originates from two firms — Bermuda’s Appleby and Singapore’s Asiaciti — as well as from 19 other firms considered to be tax havens. Several Indian companies are clients of Appleby, a 199year-old law firm.

The names of two directors of Hetero Drugs, Attari Venkata Narasa Reddy and Partha Saradhi Reddy Bandi, have figured in the ‘Paradise Papers’ list of globally rich persons who are alleged to have evaded taxes and opened shell companies abroad to divert their funds.

Both men have denied violating any laws.

According to reports in the public domain, Mr Attari Venkata Narasa Reddy and Mr Saradhi Reddy Bandi are directors of Hetero Malta Limited, an off-shore company located in Malta, an island in the Mediterran­ean sea. The two businessme­n are also listed as the legal and judicial representa­tives of the company.

Hetero Drugs Limited was incorporat­ed on April 6, 1993. Its authorised share capital is `10 crore and its paid-up capital is `3.45 crore. It is involved in the manufactur­e of pharmaceut­icals and other chemical products. The company was a client of Apple by.

Investment­s of companies need not be illegal, according to Mr Attari Venkata Narasa Reddy.

“The offshore accounts were opened by Hetero Malta, a purely marketing company, on behalf of Hetero Drugs. I am a director in the company so my name appears. I do not know for what purpose it was set up. As far as I know, it is still active. The company has declared it in all its financial declaratio­ns. As far as I know, the company has taken all the required authorisat­ions from various department­s for opening the account,” he said.

Partha Saradhi Reddy Bandi said, “I am not aware of any offshore accounts in my name. If the company has opened any, it will declare if it feels the need. I am not in a position to say anything else.”

Prominent Indian corporates in the Apple by database include GMR Group, Jindal Steel, Apollo Tyres, Havells, Hindujas, Emaar MGF, Videocon, the Hiranandan­i Group and DS Constructi­on.

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