The ED order said Rana Ayyub raised the funds in the name of charity, but did not utilise them completely for which it was raised.
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that journalist Rana Ayyub, associated with a noted western publication, knowingly indulged in “Proceeds of Crime including its acquisition and possession” and thus, assets worth Rs 1.77 crore have been attached under the Money Laundering Act.
In its attachment order, the ED said, “Rana Ayyub has cheated the general Public Donors in a pre-planned manner and with the intention to cheat the general public donors.”
The order says that Ms Rana Ayyub’s scam started right when she collected the money and withdrawing it from the savings account of herself and her family members. The agency said the investigation makes it “abundantly clear” that the funds were raised in the name of charity in a completely pre-planned and systematic manner, and the funds were not utilised completely for which they were raised.
The ED order further said that a Fixed Deposit amounting to Rs 50 Lakh was booked from her saving bank account through net banking and opening a separate Current bank account, and subsequently, funds were transferred from her saving bank account and bank account of her sister and father and did not utilise it for the purpose for which it was raised by Rana Ayyub.
Terming the funds raised and misused by Rana Ayyub as “proceeds of crime,” the ED order stated that Rana Ayyub knowingly indulged in “Proceeds of Crime including its acquisition, possession, use and projecting it as untainted property and therefore, she has committed the offence of money laundering as defined under section 3 of the Act, 2002 which is punishable under section 4 of the Act,” reports said. The actions by Ayyub are considered scheduled offences under the PMLA.
While the Uttar Pradesh Police has not yet filed a charge sheet in the case, the ED has stated that if the assets are not attached, the department has reason to believe that this money would be siphoned off.
Sources say FIR No. 2049/2021 dated 07/09/2021 was registered by the Indirapuram Police Station, Ghaziabad Police, UP, against Rana Ayyub for the commission of offences under Sections 403/406/418/420 of IPC, 1860 and Section 66D of Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 and Section 4 of the Black Money Act.
The allegation in the FIR was that she illegally acquired money from the general public in the name of charity. The complaint was filed by Vikas Sankrityayan on August 28, 2021.
According to sources, the journalist had raised over Rs 2.69 crore through an online crowdfunding platform called Ketto for charitable purposes between 2020 and 2021.
