Zakir Naik’s properties worth Rs 100 crore under ED’s scanner, attachment begins

The legal process to issue a Non Bailable Warrant (NBW) against evangelist Dr. Zakir Naik will begin this week, after the Islamic preacher ignored all four summons issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Moreover, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will request a special PMLA court in Mumbai to issue a letter rotatory (LR) to the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia within a week.

The ED will ask for financial and banking details – Naik’s, the Islamic Research Foundation’s (IRF) and those of related entities – from these countries.

A few businessmen from Pakistan are also under the ED scanner.

Sources told India Today that Naik’s movable and immovable properties are worth Rs 100 crore, and the ED is likely to attach all the assets in the next few weeks.

These include Naik’s personal properties, as well as those belonging to the IRF and shell companies.

On Monday, the ED provisionally attached properties of the IRF and others worth Rs 18.37 crore –  in the form of mutual funds, bank balances and real estate – under the PMLA, 2002.

Details of attached assets

The ED today provisionally attached mutual funds worth Rs 9.41 crore (belonging to the IRF), a godown worth  Rs 60 lakh and owned by Harmony Media Pvt. Ltd, and a school building worth Rs 7.05 crore belonging to the Islamic Education Trust, Chennai.

Five bank accounts of the IRF were also attached.

IRF banned

The IRF has been banned under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities [Prevention] Act, 1967. Amir Gazdar, a close confidente of Naik’s, has been arrested and is in judicial custody at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai.

The ED had registered a money laundering case against IRF under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002, based on an FIR filed by the National Investigation Agency in November 2016.

It was alleged that Naik and his associates were indulging in unlawful activities, and that through his provocative utterances, the preacher was promoting enmity and hatred between different religious groups in India.

“His inflammatory speeches and lectures have inspired and incited a number of Muslim youths in India to commit unlawful activities and terrorist acts”, an ED official said.

Source : India Today