Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Al Falah University founder Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui has been booked in a separate Rs 2-crore fraud following registration of cases at two police stations in Bhopal, officials said.
He was sent to 13-day custody of Enforcement Directorate in a terror financing-linked money laundering case. Siddiqui came under intense scrutiny after his alleged links to Delhi blast attack surfaced with the ED claiming that Rs 415.10 crore were generated through what it called fake accreditation and false assertions of statutory recognition.
According to officials, Siddiqui had been evading Bhopal police for years despite being wanted in an old fraud case. Investigators said that Jawad Siddiqui and his brother Hamood Siddiqui defrauded people in Bhopal between 1997 and 2001 by operating a chit fund company that lured people with the promise of doubling their money. By 2001, both brothers had disappeared.
FIRs were later registered at Talaiya and Shahjahanabad police stations in Bhopal based on complaints of aggrieved citizens. He was also accused of absconding with money belonging to gas victims. Allegations that Siddiqui defrauded people and used funds for orchestrating terrorism have resurfaced in the wake of the recent developments.
ED's claim
ED claimed that Jawad and Al Falah charitable trust under his control amassed Rs 415.10 crore as proceeds of crime by misleading students and parents with fabricated NAAC accreditation claims and purported UGC recognition. The agency has taken cognisance of two Delhi police crime branch FIRs alleging that Al Falah University used fake accreditation to attract admissions.
