India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth ₹15.4 million ($190k) of the Indians for Amnesty International Trust (IAIT) under the country’s AML/CFT law.
In 2011-12, the Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) had the permission to receive foreign contributions from Amnesty International UK. However, this permission was revoked later. Thereafter, the entities IAIT and Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd (AIIPL) were created in the 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively, to escape the foreign contribution route and operate as a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the guise of service export and foreign direct investment (FDI). Through this new route, Amnesty International UK sent ₹517.2 million ($6.29m) to AIIPL. However, there was no documentary proof (invoices or agreement copies) for the alleged export.
The ED found that Amnesty International UK invested in AIIPL in the form of ‘Compulsory Convertible Debentures’. Subsequently, the Indian entity IAIT established an overdraft facility for ₹142.5 million ($1.73m), retaining AIIPL’s fixed deposits worth ₹100 million ($1.22m) as collateral. The IAIT used this overdraft facility as part of Amnesty India’s NGO activities, including salary, administrative and operational expenses.
Including the current attachment, the ED has attached combined assets worth ₹210.8 million ($2.56m) in this case.
Source: Enforcement Directorate, India
