Gurugram NGO Siphoned Off Rs 5 Crore Collected As Covid Fund: Probe Agency

Assets worth more than Rs 5 crore of Hemkunt Foundation located in Madhya Pradesh have been attached under the anti-money laundering law in a case linked to alleged diversion of public funds collected in the name of Covid in 2021, the Enforcement Directorate said on Thursday.

In a statement, the agency said the properties, provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), include agricultural land and buildings located in the state's Khandwa district.

They are worth Rs 5.37 crore, Enforcement Directorate (ED) said.

This is a fresh attachment of assets order in the case as the agency had earlier attached a land worth Rs 43 crore in Gurugram and fixed deposits (FDs) of Rs 17.32 crore of the foundation.

"Hemkunt Foundation collected huge donations to the tune of Rs 77.10 crore during the second wave of COVID-19 from large corporates and general public on the pretext of providing relief to people suffering from COVID-19," the agency said.

"Hemkunt Foundation diverted most of the funds thus collected towards the assets of the foundation such as in FDs and purchasing a land in Gurugram and construction activities," it said.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Delhi Police's Special Cell which alleged that the Foundation raised crores of rupees from individuals and corporates in the name of Covid relief and oxygen supply during the peak of the pandemic's second wave but the donations were siphoned off and utilised for activities for personal gains.

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