ED may attach Al Falah University campus under anti-money laundering law

New Delhi: The Al Falah University campus in Haryana's Faridabad, which came under the scanner of investigating agencies after the Red Fort area blast, could be attached by the Enforcement Directorate under the anti-money laundering law, official sources said on Sunday.

The ED is investigating if funds for the construction of the varsity were sourced from alleged proceeds of crime, the sources told PTI.

Al Falah Group chairman Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui was arrested by the ED in November on money laundering charges linked to cheating with students of the educational institutions run by his Al Falah Trust. The federal probe agency claimed that the educational institutes did not have the required valid accreditation for teaching.

According to the sources, a part of the "proceeds of crime" (illicit funds under the PMLA) identified in this case are suspected to have been pumped into the construction of various buildings of the university located in the Dhauj area of Faridabad.

The agency is undertaking a process to identify and value various movable and immovable assets of the Al Falah Trust which owns all its educational institutions and the university.

Once the probe ends, an order will be issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to provisionally attach the assets found to be derived or created from the proceeds of crime, the sources said.

It is understood that the students of the university may be allowed to study uninterrupted, even after the attachment, in the interest of their academics.

An attachment is done to ensure that the proceeds of crime are not dissipated, sold off or transacted.

A government appointed receiver can be restituted or vested with the administration of the Al Falah University campus after the provisional attachment attains finality. This way the education of the students will not suffer even as the criminal action and prosecution may continue, the sources said.

The ED, while seeking the remand of Siddiqui in November from a court, had said that the university and its controlling trust, under the direction of Siddiqui, generated "proceeds of crime" of at least Rs 415.10 crore by "dishonestly" inducing students and parents to part with money on the basis of false accreditation and recognition claims.

The agency, as per the sources, is also investigating at least five instances where documents related to the General Power of Attorney (GPA) for acquiring some land parcels in Delhi are alleged to have been forged at the behest of the trust linked to Siddiqui.

The university's role emerged during the probe into a "white-collar" terror module in which more than 10 people, including three doctors, have been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Umar-un-Nabi, a doctor at the Al Falah medical college, became the suicide bomber when he detonated an explosive-laden car on November 10 last year outside the Red Fort, killing 15 people.

The ED has taken cognisance of two Delhi Police FIRs to register its case against Siddiqui and the Al Falah Group on November 14 under the PMLA.

The agency informed the court that the university and its controlling trust, under the direction of Siddiqui, generated "proceeds of crime" of at least Rs 415.10 crore by "dishonestly" inducing students and parents to part with money on the basis of false accreditation and recognition claims.

Siddiqui's lawyer told the court that his client was falsely implicated in the present matter and the two Delhi Police FIRs were "false and fabricated".

The ED has alleged that the Al Falah University falsely claimed that it is a UGC recognised university and misrepresented its NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) accreditation status.

NAAC is an autonomous body funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) that assesses and accredits higher education institutions in the country.

The ED had said the entire Al Falah Group has seen a "meteoric rise" since the 1990s, metamorphosing into a large educational body.