India’s ED Raids George Soros–Linked Entities in FEMA Probe

In a significant enforcement action, India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at eight locations in Bengaluru on March 18, 2025. These sites are linked to George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) and its investment arm, the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF). The investigation targets alleged contraventions under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

What ED Is Investigating

The ED’s preliminary findings suggest that since 2016, OSF had been categorized under India’s “Prior Reference Category”—meaning any funding for Indian NGOs required prior approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs. To allegedly circumvent these restrictions, OSF and SEDF are believed to have funneled funds into the country via subsidiaries, disguising them as FDI or consultancy fees, which were then distributed to various NGOs.

Entities Under Scrutiny

The probe includes at least three Indian firms—Rootbridge Services Pvt Ltd, Rootbridge Academy Pvt Ltd, and ASAR Social Impact Advisors—that allegedly received funds from SEDF totaling approximately ₹25 crore between 2020 and 2024. In some cases, funds were transferred through mechanisms like compulsorily convertible preference shares, or labeled as service fees despite no clear services being rendered.

Additionally, the ED also raided premises linked to Aspada Investments Pvt Ltd, a Mauritius-based fund manager set up to handle SEDF’s investments in India—accumulating nearly ₹300 crore across over a dozen Indian firms.

Broader Context

Some of the raided locations are connected to NGOs and human rights organizations, including individuals formerly associated with Amnesty International India and employees of Human Rights Watch, both of which previously received support from OSF.