NEW DELHI, Dec 20: Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for questioning in connection with the investigation into the notorious 2016 'Panama Papers' scandal. She had sought adjournments twice earlier.

The daughter-in-law of superstar Amitabh Bachchan is being questioned under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). She appeared before the agency at its office in New Delhi in response to a summons from the ED.

An investigation by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in 2016 had unearthed the global scam in which international figures stashed away money by investing in offshore shell companies to evade taxes.

A “total undisclosed credits of Rs 20,353 crore” have been detected with respect to 930 India-linked entities in the Panama and Paradise Paper Leaks, as on October 1, 2021.

Records of Panamanian legal firm Mossack Fonseca had revealed the names of world leaders initially. The Bachchans have been under probe since 2016-17. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was reported to have had links with an offshore entity in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) created in 2005. Her husband Abhishek Bachchan had also been examined by the ED. Amitabh Bachchan's name had also figured in the list of 500 Indians appearing in the leak.

The Panama Papers case is being probed by a special team consisting of officers from ED, Income Tax and other agencies.