The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has temporarily attached assets worth Rs 1.54 crore belonging to Indians for Amnesty International Trust (IAIT) in connection with its investigation into money laundering into the finances of Amnesty International and its related entities. Assets are in the form of deposits in bank accounts.
The ED case is based on a CBI FIR against Amnesty for alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010.
“In this case, Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) was granted permission under the FCRA in 2011-12. for receiving overseas contributions from Amnesty International UK. However, the same was canceled and permission/registration was refused.
Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd (AIIPL) and IAIT were established in 2013-14 and 2012-13 respectively to escape the FCRA route and carry out NGO activities under the guise of service export and FDI,” the ED said in a statement.
According to the ED, its investigation revealed that after the FCRA revoked AIIFT’s license, Amnesty entities adopted a new method of receiving money from abroad. Amnesty International, UK has allegedly sent Rs 51.72 crore to AIIPL under the guise of service exports and foreign direct investment.
The ED claimed that there was no documentary evidence such as invoices and copies of the agreement submitted during the investigation for the alleged exports.
“Prima facie it has been found that Amnesty International, UK has invested in AIIPL in the form of ‘compulsorily convertible debentures.
Subsequently, another Indian entity, IAIT, set up an overdraft facility of Rs 14.25 crore, keeping AIIPL’s FD of Rs 10 crore as collateral.
The overdraft was used by IAIT for the activities of the NGO Amnesty India. Therefore, the FDI received by AIIPL is being used by Indians for Amnesty International Trust, Bengaluru, to carry out their NGO activities…,” the ED said.