Charges Filed Against Journalist Rana Ayyub Over Alleged Money Laundering

A chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate names journalist Rana Ayyub, a vocal opponent of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led administration, in relation to alleged money laundering involving funds she allegedly raised from the general public for social welfare work, including COVID-19 relief.

A month after the first COVID-19 lockdown began, in April 2020, Ms. Ayyub allegedly created three campaigns on the crowdfunding platform Ketto and raised about 2.69 crore.

The investigation agency claimed that Ms. Ayyub got money from outside without declaring it to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, or FCRA, which serves as India’s watchdog and a set of guidelines to avoid misuse of donations coming in from elsewhere.

Donations, according to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), were moved from the bank accounts of Ms Ayyub’s father and sister to her personal accounts. The ED claimed that she created a fixed deposit of 50 lakh rupees and transferred 50 lakh rupees to a new account, adding that only 29 lakh rupees were utilised for social welfare activity.

According to the ED, Ms. Ayyub attempted to portray these monies as “untainted” because she claimed to have obtained them from the general population, but her true goal was to establish fixed deposits and boost her own bank account.

According to the ED, Ms. Ayyub raised the money to benefit slum residents, farmers, and others who had been adversely affected by COVID-19, as well as for relief efforts in Assam, Bihar, and Maharashtra.

Vikas Sankrityayan, the founder of an NGO named “Hindu IT Cell” and a resident of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, submitted a First Information Report, or FIR, with the Ghaziabad Police in Uttar Pradesh in September, which served as the foundation for the money laundering case against Ms. Ayyub.

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