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ED attaches Rs 1.54 crore assets of Amnesty International Trust under PMLA

Investigation by ED revealed that upon cancellation of FCRA Licence of M/s. Amnesty International India Foundation Trust, a new method was adopted by Amnesty entities to receive money from abroad.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday provisionally attached assets worth Rs 1.54 Crore in bank accounts of M/s. Indians for Amnesty International Trust (IAIT) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The ED had initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by CBI, EOU-IV, New Delhi against M/s. Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd. (AIIPL) and others under Section 120(B) IPC, 1860 and Sections 11, 35 & 39 of FCRA, Foreign Contributions Regulatory Act, 2010.

In this case, Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) had been granted of permission under the FCRA, 2010 during 2011-12 for receiving foreign contributions from Amnesty International UK. However, the same was cancelled and permission/registration has been denied, M/s Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd (AIIPL) and M/s Indians Amnesty International Trust (IAIT) were formed in the year 2013-14 and 2012-13 respectively to escape the FCRA route and carried out NGO activities in the guise of service export and FDI.

Investigation by ED revealed that upon cancellation of FCRA Licence of M/s. Amnesty International India Foundation Trust, a new method was adopted by Amnesty entities to receive money from abroad, that, M/s. Amnesty International, U.K. 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.

With the present attachment, total attachment in the case stands at Rs 21.08 Crore.