The Enforcement Directorate attached bank balances of £1.76 million belonging to Amnesty International India and its trust, Indians for Amnesty International Trust (IAIT), accusing the Indian arm of the UK-based NGO of money laundering in the garb of bringing in ‘foreign direct investments’. In all, £2 million have so far been attached in the case.
“Directorate of Enforcement issued provisional attachment order under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) attaching bank accounts of Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd and Indians for Amnesty International Trust as both the entities have acquired the proceeds of crime and layered the same in the form of various movable properties,” ED claimed.
In 2018, ED had first carried out searches on the Bengaluru premises of Amnesty’s India chapter and later put under “restraint” £5.2 million deposited in the accounts of Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd (AIIPL). The AIIPL had received £5.17 million in ‘export remittances’ from Amnesty International, UK during the financial year 2014 and 2019.
“Investigation revealed that upon cancellation of FCRA licence, Amnesty International, UK sent £ 5.17 million to AIIPL in the guise of export of services and FDI (foreign direct investment),” a senior agency official said. However, there was no documentary evidence produced by Amnesty India to substantiate the ‘exports of services’.
The agency has claimed that Amnesty India received funds from its UK parent body which sources its funds through donations from individual donors. The total attachments stand at £1.95 million till date.
“Investigation has proved that no services were exported and the amounts so received was in contravention to provisions of FEMA and PMLA,” sources in the ED said. The contravention had led to freezing of deposits in the bank accounts of AIIPL and Indians for Amnesty International Trust earlier. Amnesty's Indian entities had also challenged the decision of the agency of freezing bank balance before the Karnataka High Court which found the action of the enforcement agency “legally justified”, a source pointed out.
The Indian chapter of the human rights body has been under scrutiny of the investigative agencies for some time. In October 2018, the ED had conducted searches at the NGO’s Bengaluru office in connection with its probe in the alleged violation of FDI guidelines and remittances it had received from the parent body. Residence of its then director Akaar Patel were among the premises searched by the agency. The agency was probing if Amnesty adopted the FDI route to evade the foreign contribution regulation act (FCRA) after government tightened regulations under FCRA.
