Kochi: A Kerala-based charitable outfit has been booked by ED for receiving Rs 220 crore from abroad allegedly violating the Foreign Regulation Act (FCRA), media reports said.
The Directorate of Enforcement is probing the alleged violations of FCRA by Kunhammed Musliyar Memorial Trust in Kasargod and its NRI chairman Ibrahim Ahmad Ali.
ED sleuths searched two locations in Kasargod under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) on Thursday, the ED said in a statement.
The Trust received over Rs 220 crore since 2021 from Ibrahim Ahmad Ali, as “unsecured” loans sans loan agreement, interest rate terms, or repayment schedule. No repayment was made till date, the ED said.
The ED found that the funds were received by Ali from a UAE company Universal Lubricants LLC.
There were no supporting documents to qualify that fund as “foreign contribution” under FCRA, the statement said.
The Trust is “not registered” under the FCRA and has no “mandatory permission” or a designated FCRA bank account to receive foreign contributions.
A part of the foreign contributions was “utilised” for the purchase of agricultural land in India breaching the existing regulations.
The Trust received Rs 2.49 crore in “cash” from Ali in violation of FEMA provisions.
“…ncriminating documents, ledger accounts showing unsecured loans of Rs 220 crore, the cash book of the Trust, and a hard disk containing financial data were seized,” the ED said.
