Lalit Khaitan and his son Abhishek Khaitan, the owners of Radico Khaitan, a leading producer of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), have been revealed to have offshore assets through trusts, according to the Pandora Papers.
The documents from the Trident Trust, based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), reveal that in 2012, a trust deed for Timberlane Trust was established between the Timberlane Group Foundation in Panama (settlor) and Trident Trust in BVI (trustee). Lalit and Abhishek Khaitan were named as the beneficiaries of this trust. Lalit Khaitan is the Chairman and Managing Director of Radico Khaitan, while his son Abhishek holds the position of Managing Director at the company.
The trust deed lists “50,000 shares of USD 1 each in Beecool Global Holdings Limited” as part of the Timberlane Trust’s fund. The Timberlane Group Foundation was incorporated in Panama on October 3, 2012, and Beecool Global Holdings Limited was established in BVI on April 26, 2012. According to the records, since September 4, 2012, Timberlane Trust held 50,000 ordinary shares in Beecool Global Holdings.
Later, in 2013, shares of Beecool Global Holdings Limited were transferred from the trust to Lalit and Abhishek Khaitan. On October 30, 2013, share transfer forms show that the Timberlane Trust, through Trident Trust, transferred 25,000 shares each to Lalit and Abhishek for “valuable considerations received.”
Furthermore, the documents reveal that Ultimate S.A., a company based in Nevis, acted as the Fiduciary Founder of the Timberlane Group Foundation. The declaration regarding this role was signed by Martha Salazar, a Panamanian national and director of Ultimate S.A. A letter from the Timberlane Foundation in 2012 also highlights the involvement of the law firm OP Khaitan & Co., owned by Gautam Khaitan. The firm was instructed to handle future correspondence related to the trust.
In addition, Ashutosh Patra, a senior partner at OP Khaitan & Co., was appointed as an independent director of Radico Khaitan on September 30, 2014, serving a five-year term.