ED has seized assets worth Rs 139 crore of Al Falah University Chairman Jawad Siddiqui in the money laundering investigation. It covers 54 acres of land. Siddiqui is accused of financial irregularities, cheating students and links with terrorist module.
Delhi: As part of the money laundering probe against Al Falah University Chairman Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 139 crore, including 54 acres of land on the university campus. The ED has also filed a chargesheet in the case of financial irregularities committed by Siddiqui and his family members in the university and Al Falah Charitable Trust.
Siddiqui is said to have links with nine institutions linked to the Al-Falah Charitable Trust, which oversees the functioning of the university. It is alleged that contracts for catering in the university hostel and construction of buildings on the campus were given to companies controlled by Siddiqui. It is also alleged that the charitable trust misused university funds to purchase the land.
This money laundering case is related to the investigation of White Collar Terror Module of Faridabad. Doctors working or studying at Al Falah University were involved in this terrorist case. Dr. Muzammil Shakeel and Dr. Shaheen Shahid, who worked at the university, were arrested on November 10, hours before the Delhi Red Fort blast. Dr. Umar Un Nabi, who carried out the Red Fort blast, had also studied from this institute.
On November 18, the ED raided 18 places, including a university in Faridabad and homes of people associated with the Al Falah group in Delhi, following which Siddiqui was arrested. The investigation began after the ED found that the university had defrauded students and the public to the tune of Rs 415 crore in the name of fake UGC affiliation and NAAC grading. It is also being said that funds may have come from abroad also.
Siddiqui was also arrested in 2001 on charges of instigating people to invest money by creating fake investment companies. About Rs 7.5 crore were transferred to the personal accounts of the accused. In 2004, he was granted bail after agreeing to return the money to the victims.