Devas-Antrix deal: ED seeks to declare Devas Multimedia CEO fugitive economic offender in PMLA case

The declaration of an individual as a fugitive economic offender will allow the ED to seek confiscation of properties belonging to the accused in India and abroad which are identified as proceeds of an economic crime.

The special court is yet to take up the application filed by the ED earlier this month for declaring the Devas Multimedia CEO an economic offender. It had in April 2022 ordered the splitting up of the charge sheet against Viswanathan and nine others on account of the Dewas Multimedia CEO not responding to court summons.

In March, the special court rejected a plea by the ED for a proclamation order against Viswanathan. The ED sought a proclamation order against the Devas Multimedia executive to compel him to present himself in the special court in Bengaluru for the trial of a money laundering case filed against him and six others in 2018.

Viswanathan is a satellite communications entrepreneur in the US and is the president of Omnispace LLC, a startup in that country, which is putting together a constellation of satellites to power 5G from space, especially to provide connectivity to remote areas where the terrestrial mobile network does not work.

Devas Multimedia and its investors, including the German telecom major Deutsche Telekom, are involved in a protracted legal battle across the world over the decision of the Government of India in 2011 to annul a 2005 satellite deal between Devas and Isro’s Antrix.

Viswanathan is among 10 individuals and entities accused of money laundering by the ED in a charge sheet filed in July 2018. Among others accused in the case are several senior Devas officials, three subsidiaries of the firm, and a former executive director of the Antrix Corporation.