New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alerted the Centre in August last year about alleged violation of forex regulations by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) regarding donations worth Rs 7.04 crore from individuals abroad whose details were either not provided in entirety or concealed, ThePrint has learnt.
The transactions in question took place between 2014 and 2022.
Additionally, it had also apprised the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the duplication of donors’ details such as passport numbers, mobile numbers and email addresses done allegedly to hide the real details of the donors as well as diversion of funds to the personal bank accounts of the party functionaries including Rajendra Nagar MLA Durgesh Pathak.
The AAP has been named as an accused in the Delhi excise policy case in which Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is out of jail on interim bail till 1 June. Several of its leaders were arrested by central agencies such as the CBI and the ED over the two years since the probe was launched over alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the now junked excise policy.
In such cases, the MHA orders an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is the competent authority to probe violation of the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) norms.
Also Read: ED names both Kejriwal & AAP as accused in Delhi excise policy ‘scam’ in its chargesheet
‘Contravention of FCRA norms’
Sources in the ED said that officers seized four pages — having details of the donors to the US — from eight hand-written pages of a diary from the premises linked to senior Punjab leader MLA Sukhpal Khaira while carrying out searches in connection with a drug cartel case of 2015.
Khaira had quit the Congress to join the AAP in 2015 but returned to his parent party six years later,
The “incriminating documents” revealed receipt of foreign donations amounting to $1,19,000, which Khaira allegedly admitted the party received through fundraising campaigns in the US between 2015 and 2016 before the 2017 Punjab election, according to the ED sources.
Subsequently, AAP general secretary Pankaj Gupta was summoned to explain the receipt of fundings and he allegedly submitted his statement confirming foreign donations through online and cheque modes.
The sources said the MHA was informed about the findings of the analysis of data provided by Gupta in which the ED found that 155 individuals used only 55 passport numbers on 404 occasions to donate approximately Rs. 1.02 crore, while 71 donors on 256 occasions donated approximately Rs 1 crore. In the second instance, only 21 mobile numbers were mentioned.
Additionally, the sources said that 75 donors used just 15 credit cards on 148 occasions to donate approximately Rs 20 lakh to the AAP.
It also allegedly found that the party received Rs 51 lakh in donations through e-mail IDs and mobile numbers registered in the name of 19 Canadian nationals but their details were concealed from the account books. Different names were allegedly used to hide violation of the FCRA norms and the Representation of People Act, the ED added.
“The investigation also revealed that AAP has set up a separate body named as AAP Overseas lndia along with volunteers in countries like the US, Canada, Australia etc to mobilise foreign funds. The party had set a target of Rs 50 crore for these volunteers in 2016,” one of the ED sources said.
The overseas wing of the party generated donations of $11,786 through a fundraising event held in Canada in January 2016 out of which $7,955 was sent to its IDBI Bank account via the passports of only 11 volunteers.
“The donations were claimed to be made by more than 200 individuals but only 11 passports were used in transferring the funds,” an ED officer said.
‘Diversion of funds by AAP office bearers’
E-mails exchanged by several volunteers with AAP functionaries such as Aniket Saxena (coordinator of AAP Overseas India), Kumar Vishwas (the then convenor of AAP Overseas India), Kapil Bhardwaj and Pathak were scanned for their contents, the sources said.
In an email conversation in 2016, Saxena allegedly asked Vishwas for a transfer of $29,000 — collected through a fund-raising event in Canada — directly to the bank account of Pathak and Bhardwaj.
“These facts prove that funds raised during overseas campaigns were siphoned off for personal benefit of AAP leaders and its office-bearers,” another ED officer said.
The sources further outlined that Pathak had, in November 2015, organised a fund-raising event where 15,000 Canadian dollars were raised and the party’s volunteers had sent a handwritten sheet to the party detailing donors and their donations. These names were not mentioned in the account books of the party, they added.
Pathak refused to comment on the development, while calls and WhatsApp messages to Vishwas and Gupta did not elicit any response.
Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi called the allegations of FCRA violation as another tactic of the ruling BJP to defame the AAP.
“After failure of liquor policy case and Swati Maliwal episode, this is another attempt by the BJP to defame the AAP. This is a very old matter which has been explained appropriately to all agencies such as the ED, the CBI, the MHA and the Election Commission of India. These cases prove that the BJP are losing all 20 Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and Punjab,” Atishi said in a statement.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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After ruling for 10 years, after getting 90% of election funding, why is Modi after the youngest party of India, AAP? Modi is the most vindictive personality India has ever produced. In the name of Nationalism, Modi has inflicted immeasurable pain on its own countrymen. India has become more divided economically, socially and religiously. Anger, hatred, arrogance and so much negative passions have filled the air of India.