AAP received 7.08 cr foreign funds from 2014-2022: ED
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed the Union Home Ministry that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received Rs 7.08 crore in foreign money between 2014 and 2022, reportedly violating the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), the Representation of People Act (RPA), and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The party led by Arvind Kejriwal disputed the ED’s claims, claiming that they were part of a political effort to discredit it.
In its dossier, the ED informed the Union Home Ministry that the AAP received funding from a number of countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Oman. The dossier arrived ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi on May 25.
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The ED’s inquiry claims to have uncovered various irregularities in the collection of foreign funds by AAP and its members. The allegations include the diversion of funds for personal advantage, particularly during a fundraising event in Canada in 2016, which implicated AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak.
Emails exchanged between AAP volunteers and functionaries such as Aniket Saxena, Kumar Vishwas, Kapil Bhardwaj, and Durgesh Pathak are said to back up these allegations.
According to the research, funds were raised through campaigns in the United States and Canada, with donors’ identities hidden in AAP accounts to avoid FCRA prohibitions on foreign donations to political parties.
The investigation also claims that many donors used the same passport numbers, email addresses, mobile numbers, and credit cards to donate to AAP. The ED provided the Union Home Ministry with complete findings, which included donor names, places of origin, passport numbers, sums donated, forms of giving, and recipient bank account numbers.
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Furthermore, the ED investigations found donations of Rs 51.15 lakh made by Canadian nationals using their email addresses and mobile numbers. However, the ED claims that AAP disguised the identities of these donors, violating FCRA and the Representation of People Act.
The ED is also looking into AAP’s establishment of AAP Overseas India, which reportedly enlisted volunteers in the United States, Canada, and Australia to raise foreign cash. According to the agency, volunteers were given a target of Rs 50 crore in overseas donations in 2016.
Irregularities by AAP members
During an AAP-organized fundraising event in Canada in 2016, Aniket Saxena, coordinator of AAP Overseas India, and Kumar Vishwas, then convenor of AAP Overseas India, exchanged emails.
According to the ED, the conversation revealed that Durgesh Pathak and Kapil Bhardwaj, both AAP members at the time, directed Aniket to transfer the sum of $29,000 Canadian dollars collected during a fundraising campaign, directly to Durgesh Pathak and Kapil Bhardwaj via Bhagwant Toor.
