Rana Ayyub has issued a statement a day after the Enforcement Directorate attached funds worth ₹1.77 crore from accounts in her and her family’s name. The provisional order was issued by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In her statement on Twitter and Substack, the scribe denied the allegations levied against her. She also asserted that none of the allegations would stand up to a fair investigation.

Background of the Issue

The matter came to light when the Enforcement Directorate attached Ayyub’s assets worth ₹1.77 crore on Thursday, owing to irregularities and an alleged scandal in receiving donations from people. The order came after an FIR was registered by the Indirapuram police station in Ghaziabad.

Rana Ayyub, a Mumbai-based journalist, launched three fund raising campaigns in 2020-2021, on the platform Ketto.org. The three campaigns were: funds for slum dwellers and farmers (April-May, 2020), relief work for Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra (June-September, 2020), and help for Covid-19 impacted people in India during (May-June, 2021).

In its investigation, the ED found that Ayyub received funds in her and her family’s savings bank accounts and then diverted the money for other purposes.

She also got a Fixed Deposit of ₹50 lakhs done.


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Ayyub Calls it a “Smear Campaign”

Issuing a statement on Twitter and Substack on Friday, the scribe said that the charges of fund misappropriation are “baseless, mala fide, and fanciful.” She added that the allegations would not withstand a fair investigation and she would continue to raise critical issues as a journalist.

According to Ayyub, a total of ₹2, 69,44,679 we’re raised by her. ₹40 lakhs were spent on relief work for which she has provided bills and invoices. She later issued a cheque to the tune of ₹90 lakhs to Tikal hospital, which was refused by them. Ayyub then donated ₹ 74.50 lakhs to PM CARES and CM Relief Fund (Maharashtra), to ensure that the donated amounts were not left unutilised.

It is to be noted here that Ayyub had to pay income tax amounting to ₹1.05 crores as the donated money was received in her personal account instead of that of a registered NGO.

She also denies receiving any foreign donations and adds, “ it is pertinent that the only unutilised part of the fund, viz. the Fixed Deposit of 50 lakhs, could not be used as it was provisionally attached by the Income Tax Department from 07.08.2021 till 07.02.2022.”

However, ED, in its attachment notice, mentions foreign donations worth ₹80, 49,856.


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Netizens Baffled by Ayyub’s Donation to PM CARES

Rana Ayyub has been a staunch critic of the unaudited PM CARES since the beginning and has even launched a campaign against it.

Now that her donations to the fund have come to light, netizens are calling out Ayyub for her ‘deceit and duplicity’.

Her old tweets and statements are being dug out. People are asking, even if she wanted to contribute to the funds, why do it secretly?

 

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