Journalist Rana Ayyub did not appear before the Ghaziabad Court in connection with the money-laundering case filed against her by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Notably, Ayyub has filed a plea challenging the territorial jurisdiction of Ghaziabad Court to take up the matter. Ayyub argued that till the time territorial jurisdiction is not decided, the matter of summons must be kept in abeyance.
The court has sought ED’s response over the plea. Both parties have agreed to argue this aspect on March 15.
Notably, the ED filed its prosecution complaint against Ayyub before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ghaziabad in October last year. She was named in a chargesheet over alleged money laundering linked to funds that she collected from the public for social welfare work. The chargesheet mentioned that Ayyub utilised the funds of Rs 2.69 crore for personal use and also contravened the foreign contribution law.
The Enforcement Directorate said, “Rana Ayyub utilised these funds to create fixed deposits of ₹50 lakh for herself and also transferred ₹50 lakh to a new bank account. Investigation found that only about ₹29 lakh was used for relief work.”
“The investigation has established that Rana Ayyub had launched the fund raising campaigns with the sole intention to cheat the general public and acquired proceeds of crime in form of fixed deposits and balances in bank accounts projecting them as untainted,” the investigation agency further said.
In a statement against the ED chargesheet, Rana Ayyub said ‘my pen can never be silenced.’ She further explained that the ‘funds raised by me for Covid support were raised and used with the sole aim of helping people in dire need, and I am happy that many families ravaged by Covid received support.’
