The Enforcement Directorate has attached ₹17.66 crore kept in the bank accounts of the Amnesty International India Private Limited (AIIPL) and the Indians for Amnesty International Trust (IAIT) in connection with a money-laundering case.
The ED probe is based on an FIR registered by the CBI against the AIIPL, the IAIT, the Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) and the Amnesty International South Asia Foundation (AISAF), under various provisions of the IPC and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.
According to the agency, the AIIFT had been granted permission under the Act during 2011-12 for receiving foreign contributions from the Amnesty International-United Kingdom. However, it was cancelled on the basis of adverse inputs received from security agencies.
It is alleged that the IAIT and the AIIPL were then formed in 2012-13 and 2013-14 to “escape the FCRA route and carried out NGO activities in the guise of service export and FDI [Foreign Direct Investment]”.
The agency alleged that after the cancellation of the FCRA licence, the Amnesty entities adopted another route to receive money from abroad. The Amnesty International-U.K. sent ₹51.72 crore to the AIIPL in the guise of export of services and FDI. “In order to corroborate export proceeds/advances for export of services to Amnesty International-U.K., no documentary proof in the form of invoices and copies of agreement between AIIPL and Amnesty International-UK was furnished by AIIPL to the authorised dealer banks,” said an official.
In this case, the agency has so far attached assets worth ₹19.54 crore.