NEW DELHI:The
Enforcement Directorate on Friday attached Rs 1.5 crore parked in bank accounts of Indians for Amnesty International Trust (IAIT), a charitable trust of Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. With this, the total attachment so far in this case now exceeds Rs 21 crore.
IAIT has already been booked by the CBI for similar violations. When the government denied
FCRA permission to Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) to receive foreign contributions, its UK parent formed Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd (AIIPL) and Indians Amnesty International Trust (IAIT) in 2013-14 and 2012-13, respectively allegedly to escape the FCRA route. It carried out NGO activities in the guise of services export and FDI, the ED said.
The Amnesty entities adopted a new method to receive money from abroad. “Amnesty International, UK sent Rs 51.7 crore to AIIPL in the guise of export of services and foreign direct investment. However, there was no documentary proof for the alleged export such as invoices or copies of the agreement,” the ED said.
The agency further claimed that prima facie it has found that Amnesty International (UK) invested in AIIPL in form of compulsory convertible debentures and subsequently IAIT established an overdraft facility for Rs 14.2 crore, keeping Rs 10 crore FD of AIIPL as collateral. The overdraft facility was used by IAIT for Amnesty India’s NGO activities including salary and administrative and operational expenses.