The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 1.54 crore in bank accounts of Indians for Amnesty International Trust (IAIT) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by CBI against Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd. (AIIPL) and others under Indian Penal Code Section related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
In this case, Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) had been granted permission under the FCRA during 2011-12 for receiving foreign contributions from Amnesty International UK. However, the same was cancelled and permission/registration has been denied.
AIIPL and IAIT were formed in 2013-14 and 2012-13 respectively to escape the FCRA route and carried out NGO activities in the guise of service export and FDI, the ED said in a statement.
The ED probe revealed that upon cancellation of FCRA Licence of Amnesty International India Foundation Trust, a new method was adopted by Amnesty entities to receive money from abroad and Amnesty International, UK sent Rs 51.72 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 and copies of the agreement submitted during the investigation. It is prima facie found that Amnesty International (UK) invested in AIIPL in the form of "Compulsory Convertible Debentures".
Subsequently, another Indian entity, IAIT established an overdraft facility for Rs 14.25 crore keeping Rs 10.00 crore FD of AIIPL as collateral.
The overdraft facility was used by IAIT for Amnesty India's NGO activities including salary, administrative and operational expenses.“The FDI received by AIIPL is being used by the Indians for Amnesty International Trust, Bengaluru to carry out its NGO activities.
It is seen that there is a layering of remittances received by AIIPL, a company, into IAIT, a charitable trust,” the agency said. With the present attachment, total seizures in the case stands at Rs 21.08 crore.