NEW DELHI, July 24 -- The Enforcement Directorate has filed a complaint under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) against online fashion retailer Myntra, its linked companies and directors for "carrying out multi-brand retail trading in the guise of wholesale cash and carry", which was a violation of the foreign direct investment policy, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday. The federal financial crimes probe agency has been investigating several e-commerce platforms since 2014 for alleged violation of foreign direct investment (FDI) norms. "ED, Bengaluru Zone, has filed a complaint under FEMA against Myntra Designs Private Limited (Myntra) and its related companies and their directors for contravention to the tune of Rs 1654,35,08,981 (Rs 1654.35 crore)," the statement said. HT has reached out to Myntra for its comment on the ED statement. The story will be updated accordingly. ED said enquiries against Myntra were initiated based on credible information that the online retailer and related companies were engaged in multi-brand retail trade (MBRT). "ED investigation revealed that Myntra declared that they were engaged in the business of wholesale cash and carry and invited and received FDI from foreign investors equivalent to Rs 1654,35,08,981 and that they sold the majority of their goods to Vector E-Commerce Pvt. Ltd. (who sold the goods in retail to the ultimate customer)," ED said. It further said that Vector and Myntra are related parties and belong to the same group or group of companies. "Vector E-Commerce was created and continued to be used as a corporate entity to bifurcate the B2C [(business to customer i.e. Myntra Designs to retail customers)] transaction into B2B (Myntra Designs to Vector E-Commerce) and then B2C (Vector E-Commerce to retail customers)," the agency said in its statement. It said the probe also revealed that "Myntra was actually carrying out multi-brand retail trading in the guise of wholesale cash and carry. Even otherwise, Myntra has not satisfied the conditions laid down for wholesale/cash and carry trading as they have made cent per cent sales to Vector, which is in contravention of amendment dated April 1, 2010 and October 1, 2010, which permitted only 25 per cent sale to companies belonging to the same group or group companies". In its statement, Myntra said, "At Myntra, we are deeply committed to upholding all applicable laws of the land and operating with the highest standards of compliance and integrity. As a homegrown marketplace, we are committed to contributing to India's nation-building efforts by empowering the textile and apparel ecosystem through digital commerce. By working closely with Indian brands and sellers, artisans, and weavers, we have helped bring traditional craftsmanship to a global audience, particularly among the Indian diaspora. In doing so, we've strengthened the industry's digital backbone and created large-scale employment and entrepreneurship opportunities across the country. While we have not received a copy of the subject complaint..., we remain fully committed to cooperating with them at any point of time."...