Money laundering case: ED attaches journalist Rana Ayyub’s deposits worth ₹ 1.77 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has charged journalist Rana Ayyub, a known critic of the BJP, for money laundering and attached ₹ 1.77 crore worth bank deposits. The journalist has also been charged for alleged irregularities in charitable funds raised from public donors.

The federal investigation agency had issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach a ₹50 lakh worth fixed deposit and the rest amount kept as bank deposits and held in two accounts of a private bank in Navi Mumbai.

Ayyub is the account holder and deposits totalling ₹1,77,27,704 have been attached by the ED.

The money laundering case against Ayyub was filed after taking cognisance of a September, 2021 FIR of Ghaziabad Police (Uttar Pradesh) related to alleged irregularities in donor funds of over ₹2.69 crore raised by her through an online crowd funding platform called ‘Ketto’.

The police lodged the case on a complaint made by Vikas Sankrityayan, founder of an NGO called “Hindu IT Cell” and a resident of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad.

Ayyub had then stated that the “entire donation received through Ketto is accounted for and not a single paisa has been misused”.

According to the FIR, the funds were raised as part of three campaigns: funds for slum dwellers and farmers during April-May 2020; relief work for Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra during June-September 2020; and help for COVID-19 impacted people in India during May-June 2021.

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“Funds totalling ₹2,69,44,680 were raised on Ketto by Rana Ayyub. These funds were withdrawn in the bank accounts of her sister and father,” the agency said.

The ED agency stated that the funds “were raised in the name of charity, but not utilised completely for the purpose”. As per the agency, Ayyub generated a fixed deposit of ₹ 50 lakh from the funds thus raised but failed to use them for the said relief work.

The ED also noticed that Ayyub “deposited a total of ₹ 74.50 lakh in PM CARES fund and CM Relief Fund.”

(With inputs from agencies)