Aishwarya Rai gets 23,000 euros (Rs 13.5 lakh) parcel; Customs see red

Syed Firdaus Ashraf, Rediff.com, November 14, 2006 15:21 IST

Aishwarya Rai may be summoned by the customs department in Mumbai after a packet containing 23,000 euros (about Rs 13.5 lakhs) addressed to her Bandra residence in suburban Mumbai was found at the Mumbai airport. The packet arrived from the Netherlands, but the sender's name has not been disclosed yet.

Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Commissioner of Customs (Import) A K Prasad said, "We have not sent a notice to her formally. We will do that later." Prasad, however, did not rule out that someone may have been involved to gain cheap publicity.

The customs department also did not rule out the possibility that the money may be a part of payment of Aishwarya's shows abroad. The euros were detected in the airport screening.

"We have informed Aishwarya Rai's secretary Hari Singh about this incident," added Prasad.

Meanwhile, Hari Singh claimed that the parcel was 'news to me' in the morning. Later, he refused to answer calls.

What means surprising is that Ash, like Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, is one of the highest tax payers of the country. According to a report, she paid about Rs 4 crore as taxes on earnings of Rs 15 crore in 2005.

In 2003, she paid taxes of Rs 2.45 crore on an income of Rs 6.25 crore.