ED attaches Al Falah varsity assets worth INR 140 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has attached the land and building of Haryana-based Al Falah University, worth about INR 140 crore, that came under the radar of the security agencies following the November 10 Red Fort area blast, and filed a charge sheet against Al Falah Group chairman Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui and his charitable trust.

The 54-acres land of the university based in Dhauj area of Faridabad, its buildings including those belonging to various schools and departments apart from student hostels have been attached as part of a provisional order issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The value of these properties is INR 139.97 crore, the ED said in a statement. The ED said a charge sheet has also been filed against Siddiqui and the Al Falah Charitable Trust before a special PMLA court located in Delhi. The two entities have been arraigned as accused and the ED has sought their prosecution under the anti-money laundering law, officials said.

Siddiqui was arrested by the ED in November on money laundering charges linked to cheating with students of the educational institutions run by his trust (Al Falah Charitable).It was claimed by the agency that the educational institutes did not have the required valid accreditation for teaching.

The trust, according to the ED, routed more than Rs 110 crore to family-controlled firms of Siddiqui. He is currently lodged in jail under judicial custody.“Active role of Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui has been found during investigation. “He exercised dominant control over Al-Falah Charitable Trust, Al-Falah University (including Al-Falah School of Medical Sciences and Research Centre) and related entities, and is found to be a key beneficiary of the unlawful proceeds,” the agency said.

An attachment is done under the PMLA to ensure that the proceeds of crime are not dissipated, sold off or transacted.Officials had said that a government-appointed receiver can be restituted or vested with the administration of the University campus after the provisional attachment attains finality.    This way, the education of the students will not suffer even as the criminal action and prosecution may continue, the officials had said.

The agency, while seeking the remand of Siddiqui in November from a court, had informed that the university and its controlling trust, under the direction of Siddiqui, generated “proceeds of crime”, which have now been quantified at Rs 493.24 crore.

This was done, according to the ED’s court submissions, by “dishonestly” inducing students and parents to part with money on the basis of false accreditation and recognition claims of their educational institutions. The university’s role emerged during probe into a ‘white-collar’ terror module in which more than 10 people including three doctors, have been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Jammu and Kashmir Police.

One of the doctors at the varsity-cum-hospital, Dr Umar-un-Nabi, is alleged to have become a suicide bomber while he was driving an explosive-laden car on November 10 that blasted outside Red Fort killing 15 people.The ED has taken cognisance of two Delhi Police FIRs to register its case against Siddiqui and the Al Falah Group on November 14 under the anti-money laundering law.Siddiqui’s lawyer told the court after his arrest that his client was falsely implicated in the present matter and the two Delhi Police FIRs were “false and fabricated.”

The agency claimed he layered illicit funds through family-controlled entities. “Institutional funds were routed through family-owned entities including Amla Enterprises LLP, Karkun Construction & Developers, Diyala Construction and Developers Pvt. Ltd., etc.,” it said.About Rs 4 crore worth foreign remittances (Rs 3 crore to his wife and Rs 1 crore to his son) are alleged to have been made by Siddiqui.

“Investigation has found that charitable/educational institutions were used as instruments for personal/family/commercial benefit,” the agency claimed. The ED has alleged that the Al-Falah University falsely claimed that it was a UGC recognised university and misrepresented its NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) accreditation status.