UAE-based businessman, managing director and chairman of Lulu Group, Yusuff Ali MA, was reportedly summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to record his statements as part of an ongoing investigation into the LIFE Mission case. However, the group’s chief claimed on March 15 that his firm is a structural company having thousands of employees.
In a press meeting held in Dubai, Yusuff Ali said, just ask the people who report that I got the summons and clear it. Mine is a structural company employing 65,000 people. Rs 310 crore are paid as monthly salary outside India, and 25 crore rupees inside India. We have no problem with anyone saying anything. I have been in the Gulf for 50 years.” He added India is a democratic country while asserting that all the people have to live according to its constitution.
“We have to live under the rule of law. Will proceed accordingly. Yusuf Ali is not one to run away in fear when there are problems. I will not be afraid even if some social media people accuse me day and night. I will not back down from the cause of the poor and from my business. Lulu’s legal department will look into it if legal action is required,” Yusuffali claimed while speaking to the media in Dubai.
The notice has been served a few days after the prime accused in the Kerala Gold Smuggling and LIFE Mission cases, Swapna Suresh, came on Facebook Live and alleged that she was offered a large sum of money, purportedly on behalf of the State’s ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) to hand over all the evidence she has and relocate to north India or abroad.
In the live, she also named Yusuff Ali and said, “I was also told that UAE-settled billionaire Malayali businessmen Yusuff Ali MA and Ravi Pillai have also been served a notice to appear before the ED.” She alleged that Ravi Pillai threatened her that since Yusuff Ali is a hugely influential person and has shares in a few airports in Kerala, she might be trapped by placing contraband in her luggage if she does not comply.
During the 2018 Kerala floods, many people lost their homes. A project called LIFE Mission allegedly aimed to help those people.
