ED informed home ministry about AAP's foreign funding in August 2023, donors' identities concealed
New Delhi, May 21
The Enforcement Directorate, which is learnt to have informed Union Home Ministry about the alleged foreign funding worth more than Rs 7 crore received by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in contravention of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), had first sent a reference regarding this to the Centre in August 2023.
Sources aware of the development said that AAP had reportedly raised the money in contravention of FCRA provisions and Representation of the People Act by concealing the identities and nationalities of foreign donors.
AAP is learnt to have hidden identities of its North American donors to circumvent FCRA regulations, sources informed further.
These amounts were collected through find raising campaigns in the US and Canada, but their identities in the party’s account records have been concealed, sources informed.
Many donors are said to have used the same passport number, email IDs and credit cards for making donations to AAP, ED has claimed.
AAP on Monday dismissed the allegations. “They are deliberately targeting AAP. This is an old matter we have already clarified,” Delhi Minister Atishi said in a press conference on Monday.
Sources said that the FCRA violation and other irregularities emerged during the investigation into a case registered in Fazilka district of Punjab against an international drugs cartel involved in the smuggling of heroin from Pakistan.
In that case former Punjab AAP MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was made an accused after some incriminating documents containing details of foreign donations were found by the ED.
Khaira, who was with AAP, was held by ED in 2021. He later joined Congress.
