A Delhi court on Wednesday sent Faridabad-based Al Falah University’s Chairman and founder Jawad Ahmed Siddique to 13 days in Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) custody, noting the gravity of the offence of money laundering.
Siddique was produced by the ED at 1am at Saket Court’s additional sessions judge Sheetal Chaudhary Pradhan’s residence after his arrest on Tuesday at 8:10pm.
The agency was represented by special public prosecutor Simon Benjamin and advocate Tuhina Mishra.
In its remand application seeking 14 days of custody, the agency said that the present Prevention of Money Laundering investigation against Siddique stemmed from two FIRs lodged against him by the Delhi Police Crime Branch this year, which alleges that the university made fraudulent and misleading claims of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and University Grants Commission (UGC) accreditation with the motive to cheat students and their parents.
The prosecutors essentially told the court that the Al-Falah university forged its accreditation status to mislead aspiring students and make them apply for its courses and that Siddique used and diverted over ₹400 crore collected as student fees and educational receipts on behalf of the university, for his own personal and private interest.
The present first information report (FIR), the agency claimed, has been registered out of the reasonable belief that proceeds of crime have been generated out of such criminal activities carried out by Siddique through his university.
The ED submitted, “By allegedly fabricating and misrepresenting its NAAC accreditation status and falsely claiming UGC recognition under section 12(B), Al-Falah University has not only violated regulatory norms but also irreparably harmed the lives and career prospects of countless students who relied on these claims on good faith”.
The agency added that through alleged deceptive practices, the university continued to attract admissions and accumulate substantial monetary gains, “thereby enriching itself at the cost of students’ trust, future and legitimate expectations”.
Claiming that an income amounting to ₹415.10 crore of non-donation income in the form of fees and educational receipts was collected from the students and held by the trust that controlled Al-Falah university, the agency said that these receipts were collected using deception and false statutory claims and constituted proceeds of crime under section 2(1)(u) of PMLA.
Laying down the grounds for Siddique’s arrest, the ED stated that a complete trail of funds across various bank accounts is yet to be traced and any benami deposits or off-balance sheet assets created out of such funds. They claimed that income tax return figures are yet to be disclosed and properties are yet to be attached or confiscated as per procedure.
The agency said that the accused can tamper with evidence as he is in control of all the university assets and its multiple departments, especially as the offence itself pertained to fabrication and forgery.
They claimed that multiple family members and close associates of Siddique are trustees of the university and might have crucial roles in carrying out the fraudulent activities in obtaining false accreditation and hence custody was required to unearth their roles.
The ED further claimed that Siddique might abscond as he has family members settled in the Gulf and has significant financial resources.
Meanwhile, Siddique’s counsel claimed that the allegations against him were fabricated, including the two Delhi Police FIRs lodged against him.